Having made stops around the league in his search for a new team, it’s believed that free agent Patrick Kane has already, or is going to speak with the Toronto Maple Leafs, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
“With all the noise this week and craziness around Patrick Kane, I do believe a conversation has happened or is on the radar,” Friedman said. “They [Maple Leafs] are not commenting, they are radio-silent about this.”
However, Friedman added that it’s still unlikely that he will end up in Toronto at the end of this saga and that the two parties simply wanted to talk with one another and do their due diligence.
“I don’t expect Patrick Kane to be a Maple Leaf, I just think that they wanted to talk with him and him talk to them,” Friedman said on the Hockey Night in Canada broadcast. “I think he’ll sort it out over the next few days.”
Kane, 34, was traded last season from the Chicago Blackhawks, the team that drafted him first overall in 2007, to the New York Rangers. Between the two teams, the veteran forward tallied 21 goals and 57 points.
He underwent surgery on a nagging hip injury following the Rangers’ elimination in the NHL playoffs and was set to miss 4-6 months.
He has 451 goals and 1237 points over the course of his career.
Friedman added that he believes the Maple Leafs are more focused on fixing their defensive unit with free agent addition John Klingberg out for the Global Series in his native Sweden due to an undisclosed injury. He missed the opening tilt in Stockholm against the Detroit Red Wings and isn’t expected to play Sunday against the Wild
The Maple Leafs’ back end has been a problem area for them so far as the team has given up the ninth-most goals this season with 55.
Klingberg, who joined the team on a one-year, $4.15 million contract during the off-season, has the second-worst plus/minus on the team at -7 and has tallied five points in 14 games played.
