It doesn’t sound like Evander Kane is on the Boston Bruins’ radar.
Kane’s contract with San Jose Sharks was terminated, and he’s an unrestricted free agent. While he’s certainly a talented player on the ice, his off-ice antics could (and should) keep a number of teams from pursuing him — including the Bruins.
B’s general manager Don Sweeney on Tuesday was asked about the possibility of Boston signing Kane and said they are “no different” than the other 32 NHL teams who likely would do their “due diligence” on the embattled player. But Sweeney also noted he must do what’s right for the organization.
The NHL reportedly is launching an investigation into Kane after he tested positive for COVID-19 and traveled to Canada just a few days later. It’s a mess, really, and you can read all about that here.
While the reported investigation might hurt Kane’s chances at signing with a team in the short-term, it doesn’t exactly sound like the Bruins will be going after him.
“We haven’t discussed that particular player. We may down the road if he feels that that’s something he wants to pursue,” Cassidy said Wednesday over Zoom when asked if he and Sweeney discussed Kane. “Typically Donny and I will talk about players, but not everyone. I’m not aware of every transaction he’s in on obviously. I’m sure he talks to GM’s all the time, especially this time of year it gets ramped up probably a little bit more. So if he does, we’ll go through it.
“A lot of times, from my perspective, there’s a little bit of vetting in terms of who knows him? How does it affect the locker room? I think we see the type of player, any player usually that’s been in the league, you can sort of figure out where he fits and how good of a player he is. But how is the fit in the locker room? What’s his motivation to join the Bruins? There’s a few other things, maybe intangibles, you want to look at and go from there. That’s basically the state of the Evander Kane situation with us.”
ESPN’s Kevin Weekes on Wednesday reported it’s down to two teams who want Kane’s services, but this was reported before him being under investigation leaked, so it’s unclear if the two unnamed clubs still are in on him.
Would Kane fulfill a need for the Bruins. Sure. But, much like every other team, they’d have to make sure there would be zero issues off the ice.
