By: Noah Gould
Sabres Forward Evander Kane was suspended for one game against the Ottawa Senators. Kane took a private plane up to Toronto for the NBA’s all-star game. After a likely night of partying in the big city Kane “over-slept” and was unable to make it back to Buffalo for their Monday practice.
Sabres head coach Dan Bylsma said, “He slept in, called [General Manager] Tim [Murray] and myself, broke a team rule…We’ll be dealing with it internally, but he will not be playing in Ottawa. I’m disappointed.”
Kane has been playing very well for the Sabres of late and is one of the most important young building blocks on the team. It is unclear if the Sabres management’s relationship with Kane is good or not. Kane also got involved in legal trouble earlier in the season.
GM Tim Murray had to give up a lot in the trade to acquire Kane a year ago, and many people question why Winnepeg would be willing to give up the young player. The situation with Kane and his relationship with management is definitely something that should be watched closely over the course of the rest of the season.
In other news Tampa Bay decided to come out and squash widespread trade rumors about a potential blockbuster Steven Stamkos trade. “I have said repeatedly that it is our hope to reach an agreement with Steven on a new contract at some point, and with 27 games remaining in the season, our entire organization, Steven included, wants to focus on making the playoffs,” Lightning General Manager Steve Yzerman said in the press release. The NHL’s trade deadline this year is February 29th.
Stamkos has been the leading scoring in the NHL in multiple previous years. His contract is expiring after this season and if he changed teams it would be one of the biggest player moves in the NHL in recent years. “My view hasn’t changed. I want to win with Tampa,” Stamkos said. “I don’t think that’s going to change between now and 30 days from now.”
