Ricelund
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Re: Kane extension, going to re-post this from a few months ago when he first signed:
Nobody should think this is for just one year. Even if Detroit ends up a seller at the deadline. He will stay, unless the relationship sours.
The one year is 100% to protect Detroit against the hip. He’ll sign another deal, assuming there’s no “Backstrom Effect” early on. It’s his intention to finish his career in Detroit.
This has been in the works since mid September when Detroit told Kane they had interest. Kane is who originally made it clear he wanted Detroit, prior to that. For the Red Wings, it has always been about his medicals. The contract says those are still a concern.
I’ve mentioned on here, more than a few times, about how Debrincat accidentally let the cat out of the bag during an NHL Network interview early in the season. When after being asked about Kane, he started smiling (almost laughing) and then hid his face in his hands. He already knew then. Not sure Kane ever truly considered anyone else.
The only bump in the road, has been Detroit still being concerned over his hip.
Anything about anyone else other than Buffalo and Vegas, was likely just a myth. Including the Florida thing. That was just Florida leaking to a former goalie in the media, about their big interest. He also never considered the Rangers at all, after his surgery. That was told to me 2-3 months ago by a former agent, who still works for an NHL team, who I’ve known since the Peterborough days. It’s why people should’ve given that tweet, about 2 weeks ago from Neil Smith, way more attention.
The ONLY 3 teams who asked for post-injury evaluations from the 3rd parties, was Vegas, Buffalo and Detroit. All of those scouts/evaluators believed it was gonna be Detroit. As I’ve said many times on here, sometimes that’s just teams doing due diligence. That evaluators and external scouts are fans at heart too. They just happen to do business with NHL teams. Doesn’t mean it’s any inside information, but many times you at least know which teams may be interested in certain players, more than others. The Islanders are the only team who doesn’t do business with these firms. Probably because Lou hates anyone knowing what he’s up to.
Everyone has said Detroit throughout the last 2-3 months. Whether other teams actually offered contracts? Who knows. Fact is, every single report from a reputable source, saying, “watch out for Detroit”, was because Detroit was the team doing the most due diligence behind the scenes….
