As you know, the San Jose Sharks today placed left winger Evander Kane on unconditional waivers today for “violation of the AHL COVID-19 protocols.” According to multiple reports, the Sharks are planning to terminate his contract, which carries a $7 million cap hit per season through 2024-25.

Should the Sharks be successful, Kane will lose $22.8M, according to CapFriendly, but once he clears waivers, he’ll be an unrestricted free agent, able to sign with any NHL team; and, if he does so by March 21, he can play in the playoffs for his new team.

The Rangers absolutely should be in on Kane.

I’ll just take a lap around the rink to let that one sink in, for your responses are screaming through my mind as I type this. “No way — he’s bad news. Look at his marital situation and other off-ice concerns.” “Uh, no. The Atlanta/Winnipeg franchise and Buffalo Sabres didn’t want him. Now, San Jose is getting rid of him. No thanks.” “The Rangers are already loaded at left wing with Breadman, Kreids, and Laffy.” “The Rangers can’t afford Kane.”

Hey, everybody is entitled to an opinion, no matter how misguided. Think: Gary Bettman fining a team a quarter-million dollars for saying not-nice things about his crony, George Parros.

Character

Kane’s marital and other off-ice issues have nothing to do with him as a hockey player. And I’m not rehashing his rap sheet here because I don’t stomp players when they’re down, unlike Chris Pronger, Chris Simon, and Matt Cooke.

For all of the concerns about Kane’s character, he still notched 109 goals and 222 points in 391 games with Atlanta/Winnipeg II, 68 goals and 118 points in 196 matches for Buffalo, and 87 goals and 166 points in 212 contests with the Sharks. Thanks, Hockey Reference. What’s more, he’s got 99 goals and 188 points in close/tied games at 5-on-5.

Consider this, as well: According to Elliotte Friedman, Kane plans to file a grievance against the Sharks’ contract termination plans. If he loses, he’ll have close to 23 million reasons for wanting to sign on with another team and crush the opposition.

Sooo many teams

This is the stupidest argument for NOT signing a player who can help a team.

Seriously … how many teams did Wayne Gretzky play for? What about Alex Kovalev? Or Mike Gartner?

I just endured a mind-numbing exchange with someone on another social platform last week. That someone said he’s happy “the Rangers didn’t reacquire (Anthony) Duclair.” When I asked why, considering Duke has 101 goals and 210 points in 404 NHL games since being traded away by the Rangers, that someone replied “look how many teams had no use for him.”

“No use” for him? I look at it this way: multiple teams had use for him. And that’s how I’m viewing Kane. The man can score. Lol. In that someone’s mind, John Vanbiesbrouck probably sucked because he played for five NHL teams. Sheesh.

Locked-up left side?

Yes, I know the Rangers have Artemi Panarin, Chris Kreider, and Alexis Lafreniere on the left flank. But since when is having depth bad or moving a player to the opposite side unheard of? Just look how good the Rangers’ fourth line has been (NOT!) since Barclay Goodrow was promoted to fill in on the second unit.

Rangers can’t afford Kane

Actually, they can, depending on the type of deal he’s willing to sign.

According to CapFriendly, you’ll find there’s money to accommodate something in the $3-4M range. You can check here for yourself. You’d have to think that for a player who stands to lose all or even a chunk of the near $23M he had been set to receive, that a drop from $7M per to $3-4M isn’t unreasonable.

As for the term, the Blueshirts can probably go 1 or 2 years because, following this season, the only expiring contracts the Rangers need to address are those of potential UFA’s Ryan Strome and Kevin Rooney, and RFA’s Kaapo Kakko and Julien Gauthier. Of those four, only Strome stands to make big money.

Bottom line

The Rangers are a business. Winning is good for business. And if the Rangers win the conference or even the Cup with Kane, I doubt Blueshirts Nation will give a flying puck about Kane’s character.