In today’s NHL rumors rundown, the San Jose Sharks may need to make a decision on Evander Kane‘s future in the coming days. Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin talked about the possibility he makes a trade in the coming weeks and the New York Rangers know they have a backup goaltending problem. What do they do?
Sharks Unsure About What to Do With Kane
According to Kevin Kurz of The Athletic, it’s still very much an unknown when it comes to Evander Kane’s future with the organization. The forward’s 21-game suspension for falsifying his COVID vaccine status ends right away and he’d be eligible to return to the team on November 30th. It’s not clear if he will.
First, Kurz writes, “Kane’s vaccination status is unknown, which would impact his interactions with teammates based on the NHL’s COVID-19 protocols for this season.” Second, the players have been fairly forthright in their thoughts about Kane being around the team. Kurz said Kane could be helpful on the ice but explains:
Of course, Kane’s situation can’t be viewed only through the prism of what he brings on the ice. Many Sharks have emphatically stated since early in training camp that the vibe in the room is much more positive than it’s been in recent seasons. While it would be silly to suggest that’s all because Kane isn’t there, that has surely played a role after many team leaders privately expressed to management their displeasure with the way Kane flouted team rules last season.
source – ‘Will Evander Kane return to the Sharks? Answering questions surrounding the suspended forward ‘ – Kevin Kurz – The Athletic – 11/21/2021
Kurz suggests that maybe the Sharks will assign Kane to the AHL’s Barracuda for, say, a month-long conditioning assignment. If he’s willing to accept that demotion, it could go a long way with his teammates and show the organization he’s committed to being a positive part of the team moving forward.
Bergevin Won’t Make Trade Simply to Shake Things Up
Regardless of the team’s record or his status as GM after this season, Marc Bergevin told Sportsnet’s Eric Engels that he isn’t interested in making a trade to simply try to shake things up with the Montreal Canadiens. Noting the team needs to simply play better, he’s also not going to make changes to try and get the best possible draft pick.
Related: Marc Bergevin: A Canadiens Era That Needs to End
Bergevin said:
If I make one move to make one change, unless everyone else picks it up, it’s not going to make a difference. It’s well known that just making trades to make trades—especially with our situation with the cap—it just makes no sense to make a lateral move just to make a lateral move. If you’d like to make a move, it’s to make a move to make your team better. Just making a move to make a move, I’m never going to do that just to say I made a trade and here we go.
Rangers Have to Make Backup Goaltending Plan
Larry Brooks of the New York Post writes that the Rangers are struggling when it comes to backup goaltender Alexandar Georgiev. Knowing the team wants to limit Igor Shesterkin to somewhere in the range of 60-64 starts, Brooks writes, “They can’t have a goalie who is allowing 1.5 goals on every 10 shots to get the rest of the assignments. They just can’t.”
To make matters more complicated, Brooks adds that the Rangers are having trouble trading Georgiev. He writes:
Georgiev, unhappy with his status as backup to Shesterkin, has wanted out for a while, even if he might never have formally requested general manager Chris Drury to trade him. The Blueshirts made Georgiev available over the summer, but never got more than a nibble. Now, they may not even get that.
There’s a chance the Rangers take a risk and put Georgiev on waivers to see if a team will pick him up. That too leaves the team with a challenge as they’d need to find a suitable replacement if their current backup does get claimed.
Lightning Lose Point
Tampa Bay Lightning star center Brayden Point will be out of action indefinitely with an upper-body injury after suffering an injury versus the New Jersey Devils on Saturday. The team updated his status during Sunday night’s game against the Minnesota Wild.
Point crashed hard into the wall in the third period and it was clear his left shoulder was bothering him. This is a huge loss for the Lightning as now Point and Nikita Kucherov are out with what might be long-term injuries.
