With the trade of Artemi Panarin to Columbus, the Blackhawks are in need of a left wing on Patrick Kane’s line. The organization won’t be able to acquire another 70 point player but they are looking for a player with more than scoring attributes. This morning John Jaeckel tweeted that they are looking for size and physicality to play with Patrick Kane.
Evander Kane and James Neal were the two names that Jaeckel mentioned as possible targets. Each comes in at 6’2″ and hovers around 215 lbs with the ability to agitate on the ice. This is of course isn’t the only reason the Blackhawks are targeting one of these two, they also bring another skill to the ice.
They’re goal scorers. Both players consistently score 20 plus goals and have each reached the 30 goal mark at a point in their careers. Neal even scored 40 in 2011-2012.
The Blackhawks have lacked an agitator with this size and ability for some time. Kane or Neal can bring a few dimensions to the team but no matter how interested the Blackhawks are in trading for them, they may have issues doing so.
Both players are in the last year of their contracts and it would take some shuffling of the roster to make this work. The 25 year old Evander Kane carries a $5.25 million cap hit and the 29 year old Neal a $5 million hit.
Either of these players would be the presence the team is looking for, but it seems Kane is who they are really targeting. Sources have said that a move for Evander Kane would be really well received by the team.
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2/ Specifically Hawks want some physicality/size in the top 6, especially to play with 88
— John Jaeckel (@jaeckel) June 27, 2017
