Patrick Kane's free agency is heating up Monday, and the Toronto Maple Leafs are suddenly part of the conversation.
Insider David Pagnotta of NHL Rumour Report says the sweepstakes for Kane include Toronto, Buffalo, a return to Chicago, or Colorado.
Four wildly different situations. Four wildly different pitches.
David Pagnotta: Re Patrick Kane: Is it [Toronto], is it Buffalo, is it back to Chicago, is it Colorado.
Start with the Avalanche, because they make the most sense on paper. Colorado finished 121 points, first overall, riding a plus-99 goal differential.
Nathan MacKinnon put up 127 points this past season. Bolting a healthy Kane onto that top six is the kind of luxury contenders dream about.
Buffalo is the sneaky one. The Sabres closed at 109 points, fourth overall, with a plus-47 differential under Lindy Ruff.
They've been trying to escape the NHL's longest playoff drought for years. Would Kane be the missing piece, or just a name on a marquee that's already been dark too long?
Why Toronto makes zero sense for Kane right now
Then there's Toronto. And honestly, this pairing doesn't add up.
The Maple Leafs finished 78 points, 28th overall, minus-46 on the season, and closed the year on a seven-game losing streak. New head coach Jim Hiller was hired last month, walking into a rebuild disguised as a contender.
Adding a 37-year-old rental to a team that just posted a minus-46 differential isn't a splash. It's a distraction.
Chicago is the romantic pick. Kane's number hangs in the rafters there, and Connor Bedard has already turned that locker room into something worth watching again.
The Blackhawks still finished 72 points, 31st overall, but Bedard posted 75 points as a 20-year-old. A homecoming built around mentoring the kid writes itself for the marketing department.
None of these four situations screams obvious fit. That's usually when these things get weird before they get real.
Pagnotta didn't attach a timeline, and Kane's camp hasn't tipped its hand publicly. Free agency rumors move fast this time of year, and they move even faster when a name like Kane's is attached to four teams instead of one.
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Whichever way this breaks, it changes the calculus for a fifth team, too. Somebody's cap plan or lineup projection just got a lot messier the moment this hit Twitter.
Would Patrick Kane signing with the Maple Leafs be a smart move?
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