Patrick Kane Linked To Five Teams, Says Athletic Insider

Chris Johnston from the Athletic, has reported Kane has narrowed his options to five teams for him to join.

Amongst the teams in consideration, the Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs, Florida Panthers, and yes, the New York Rangers, who remain as the apparent front runner to sign Kane.

Toronto is considered a long shot.

Amongst the teams with the highest salary cap availability, the Red Wings and the Sabres, have over $5.5 million of available space to sign Kane without making any moves.

The Rangers and Panthers are in a little tougher situation, especially with the Rangers and the mounting injuries on the team currently, with Adam Fox and Filip Chytil placed on injured reserved and the recalls of Jonny Brodzinski, Louis Domingue and Connor Mackey that limits the accumulation of cap space.

They will need to make moves to sign Kane as they can't outright, either moving a player like Barclay Goodrow via trade to free up his $3.4 million salary, or another method that hasn't been discussed yet that could potentially thin the depth of the team.

That's a mistake the Rangers have done last year. The Maple Leafs look the least likely to sign him, as they have just under $50,000 of available cap space.

The biggest deciding factor will be Kane's desire to join a major contender. Amongst the team's discussed, that's clearly the Rangers.

The Red Wings are a very good team, but it remains to be seen if they are Stanley Cup contenders. It won't be long to see how this all shapes up.