You can't score if you don't shoot. Kane does shoot a lot but to deny he has a very good shot is simply wrong. I don't see anyone crapping on Meier's 10% shooting percentage. On the Sharks Kane was shooting 11.3%. This makes me sound sour on Meier which isn't the case, I am probably one of his biggest fans, I just think it's hilarious how the tune has changed on Kane after 1 playoffs in which he was injured and still scored 4 goals in 9 games 2 of which were on the PP where he's awful.
Also I really don't care about that first. How many 25-30 goal scorers have we drafted in the first round since 2000? One (Couture). How many picks have we had in the later half of the first round turn into anything near Kane's abilities? One (Hertl). To expect that pick to turn into anything amazing under DW/Burke is unrealistic and overly optimistic. It's also just a jump from 2nd round to first round. Either way we're losing a good pick its likely the difference of a pick in the 50 range or a pick in the 20 range. I'll take Kane over that difference.
Lastly, regarding Donskoi. He's a lot of fun to watch and he has a ton of talent but I just don't see him developing into the fantasy player that many people envision here. Hope I'm wrong because I was big on him after that Stanley Cup Final season but I don't see him being more than a 15-20 goal 35-40 point player.
I think the tune changed because now is the first time people were seriously considering the ramifications of keeping Kane with a new contract. Given that nobody expected us to even acquire Kane, much less for what the cost to get him was, I don't think anyone really thought anything of it. But in the short time with the Sharks, they got a glimpse of what he does well and some of the issues keeping him will bring. And to do all that for a minimum of 4 years at 6.5 million per season is something to heavily consider before committing to it regardless of whatever pick implications occur. That's a lot of cap space to invest into a winger that the organization actually has in pretty good numbers and talent. Most are not better than Kane sure but they're likely more cost-effective, with room to grow, and have more influence on the game overall than Kane does. If we re-sign Kane, we're moving one of Hertl/Couture, Pavelski, Boedker, Labanc, Meier, or Donskoi because there's just no room unless we whiff on Tavares and Thornton and any other potential free agent center. Chances of that occurring are very small.
While Donskoi will probably not be a top line player in this league, him being what he is right now at the cost he carries and the probable cost on his next contract is going to be better for the position he plays than Kane at 6.5-7 mil. I like Kane and I thought he played well and gets too much flak for who he is but I want more out of the players that I'm going to sign to that kind of money than what Kane provides.