Sworn depositions in the Evander Kane case not good for the Sabres forward

Evander Kane was arraigned in City Court on charges of disorderly conduct, harassment and criminal trespass last week after turning himself in to Buffalo police. As time goes on, more and more is being released about the incident including sworn depositions from those who filed complaints.

According to Buffalo News writers Lou Michel and Dale Anderson the four--three women and a bouncer--"describe a series of aggressive incidents including grabbing women by the neck and pulling their hair." Each woman, according to the News, said that "Kane grabbed them by "forcibly by the hair" and two of them said "he put his hands on their throat" to the point where they felt like they couldn't breathe."
Kane was playing celebrity bartender at Bottom's Up on Chippewa St. in downtown Buffalo that night and the event seemed to center around "hooking up," according to the depositions of two of the women.

"He came up to me like he always does,” one woman said. “He said, ‘You’re coming to my house with me and you’re going to like it.’" Another was quoted as saying, “It came out of nowhere,” she said. “I was surprised. I don’t really know him. He kept after me about hooking up. I kept telling him no. He pulled my hair and went off.”

The bouncer at the club said "he got a text message with complaints about you grabbing girls inappropriately."

"I told him to leave," claimed the bouncer. "He pushed me against the register and he was grabbed by me and another security guard. We took him out from behind the bar. He resisted us all the way to the middle of the dance floor. He broke free ... and pushed me again. ... Someone else grabbed Kane and walked him out the back.”

There is a surveillance video of the incident which other employees watched that morning to corroborate the bouncer's statement. Attorney Paul Cambria, who is representing Kane, said that he's seen the video telling the News, “There is more to this than meets the eye.

“I’ve seen the video and, as far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t support these statements,” Cambria said.

This is an extremely murky situation for Kane, the Sabres and General Manager Tim Murray. The GM traded for Kane aware of the controversy surrounding Kane when he was a member of the Winnipeg Jets. In doing so he put himself on the line and thus far Kane really hasn't done his boss any favors.

It's the third time Kane has found himself in the news. The first centered around an incident with a female but was never charged then in February he overslept and missed practice after hanging in Toronto during the NBA All-Star Game.

This latest incident still needs to play itself out but it doesn't shine a very good light on the 24 yr. old, his bosses, the team or ownership. Kane is a young, talented forward who's just entering his prime and on the ice he's widely considered to be all-in yet off-ice issues continue to plague him. Rumors of Buffalo entertaining the thought of trading the troubled forward began at the draft that was held in Buffalo the same weekend of the Kane/Bottom's Up incident.

It's hard to believe any team would be interested in trading for Kane at this juncture unless it was at a steep discount to his talent which puts Murray on the spot. At the time of the incident Murray was ready to wait until figuring out what the next step would be.

“I don’t know all the details. I don’t know what’s right or wrong," said Murray at the time. "I’m sitting right here, and you can come in and say ‘I’m over there banging my head against the wall,’ I don’t know. The police will investigate. There will be evidence or there won’t be evidence. And it’ll either go forward or it’ll go away.

“If it’s true then we have to deal with it. If it’s false again, then I guess we have to come up with a different plan of attack to make sure that these accusations that may not be true, how do we stop them [from happening]?”

On thing Murray can be pretty sure of, in light of Kane's past, this won't simply "go away."


Thx to the Buffalo News.


http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=78387

Danny DeKeyser inks primo deal. Will it affect Ristolainen negotiations?

Red Wings defenseman Danny DeKeyser is widely viewed as a solid top-four d-man who'll give you 20+ minutes of pretty solid defensive play while contributing a decent amount on offense. The former undrafted college free agent who signed with the Wings in 2013 has 14 goals and 65 assists in 234 games played for Detroit. It comes out to just about five goals and 22 assists for the 6'3" 190 lb. Macomb, Michigan native.

For his efforts, the 26 yr. old DeKeyser just avoided arbitration and landed himself a 6yr/$30M contract courtesy of Wings GM, Ken Holland, complete with "a no-trade clause from 2017-18 through 2019-20 and a modified no-trade clause the last 18 months of the contract," according to the Detroit Free Press.

Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen is coming off of his entry-level deal and will be entering his fourth season with the Buffalo Sabres. Last season he was the Sabres workhorse logging over 25 minutes of ice-time, good for 10th in the league in ATOI. In 2015-16 he had career highs in goals, assists and points after finishing with nine goals and 32 points in 82 games.

For his career Ristolainen has 19 goals and 46 assists in 194 games which averages out to eight goals and 19 assists per 82-game season. Those numbers are very similar to DeKeyser's five goals and 22 assists per 82 games.

In addition, they're right on par with fellow defenseman Zach Bogosian. For his 478-game career, Bogosian has scored 47 goals and added 111 assists for the same 8g/19a average that Ristolainen has. Even recently acquired defenseman Dmitry Kulikov is in that range averaging five goals and 19 assists over his 460-game career.

With DeKeyser making $5M/season, Bogosian at $5.14M/season and Kulikov with a cap-hit of $4.33M/yr. the price of defensemen has gone up.

How will this affect Ristolainen and his contract talks?

I'm pretty sure every Sabres fan felt that his cap-hit would be at least $5M on a longer term contract and in light of the DeKeyser contract, that will likely be the minimum. We should probably expect a long-term contract in the $5.5-6M range. Something like an 8yr./$44M deal would probably work.

Hopefully they can get 'er done soon.


http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=78358

Goaltender Steve Racine ready to chase a pro career

For free agent goalie Steve Racine his immediate future really seemed take shape and shine through in a matter of a few months at the end of his senior season at Michigan. Perhaps it was the feeling he had after the Wolverine's Big-Ten Hockey Championship win or the bond he formed with his volunteer goalie coach, former Sabres goalie Steve Shields, that sharpened his focus on the upcoming summer. Or perhaps it was putting on a strong performance at this year's Buffalo Sabres Development Camp that locked him in on the immediate future. Or maybe it was a convergence of all three for the soon-to-be college graduate as he hits the off-season with ton of confidence. But regardless of who, what or where, Racine is ready to get his professional goaltending career moving. Right now.

Racine has already positioned himself for life in the real world via college and I caught up the political science major after class at Michigan last week as he's finishing up his undergraduate studies this summer. Last year, as mentioned in a article by Steve Kornacki at mgoblue.com, Racine interned at J.P. Morgan's Cash Equities Sales Trading Intern Program on Wall Street and was invited to return again this summer to continue his internship. When I asked him if he was headed over there again this summer he quickly said, "No, no, no. I'm playing pro."

NBC shows Buffalo some love, will televise eight Sabres games.

The NBC Sports Group released their television schedule for the upcoming 2016-17 NHL season touting a record 106 games (up one from last season) to be aired on NBC and NBCSN and the Buffalo Sabres will be a part of that.

Thanks to Yahoo's Greg Wyshinski a breakdown of the schedule shows that NBC has the Chicago Blackhawks on tap for 21 games and the Philadelphia Flyers with 20 to lead the way amongst appearances. With 17 appearances, the Boston Bruins surpassed both the defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins and the Big Apple's NY Rangers who both have 15 as well as and the Washington Capitals who are on tap for 14 games.

This year the Buffalo Sabres are scheduled to be on national TV eight times. Last year with Jack Eichel in the fold after bottoming-out the prior two seasons, NBC tapped the Sabres for five appearances on their network which included a March 1st, post trade-deadline day meeting with Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers at First Niagara Center. Buffalo would end up finishing 1-3 in primetime NBC/NBCSN matchups last season with an OT loss vs. Edmonton in a game that was yanked from the national schedule.

Is this the year we see the real Robin Lehner?

Robin Lehner did not have a poor first season with the Buffalo Sabres by any means. However that his 2.47 goals against average and .924 save percentage did come in an injury-shortened season was a source of consternation for many. He suffered a high ankle sprain in the second period of the very first game, missed 39 games, played, re-aggravated the injury then was officially shelved after having season-ending ankle surgery March 30th. He appeared in 21 games total for Buffalo after returning to the lineup on January 15th posting a 5-9-5 record.

After a somewhat shaky return against Boston, Lehner got up to speed and proceeded to play stellar in a five game stretch where he stopped 178 of 188 shots (.946 sv %) and allowed only two goals in each of those games but ended up with only a 2-2-1 record. After that the bottom fell out and although re-injuring his ankle probably had much to do with his decline later in February and into March, missing huge chunks of time over the course of the previous 12 months did not help either.

Buffalo's Murray chippin' away--only Ristolainen and Girgensons left to re-sign

With the re-signings of G, Jason Kasdorf and F, Daniel Catenacci Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray only has two of his own free agents left to sign--D, Rasmus Ristolainen and F, Zemgus Girgensons--both of whom are restricted free agents.

Although both are first round picks and started their NHL careers the same year, the Sabres approach to re-signing them is decidedly different.

Ristolainen is a cornerstone top-pairing/No. 1 d-man that will anchor the Sabres defense corps for years to come. Murray and Company--most notably Mark Jakubowski his main contract negotiator--are focusing on extending Ristolainen and whether it's a bridge contract or long-term is a question that will go a long way in determining his cap-hit. Regardless, as of right now Ristolainen seems to be Priority-1 for Buffalo.

The Sabres went long-term on 2009 Calder Trophy winning defenseman Tyler Myers a few years back, going with a 7 yr./$38.5M contract for the lengthy defenseman with a scoring touch. It was a departure from the old way of doing business for that regime as they transitioned to a new era under new owner Terry Pegula. The 2011 off-season saw the team break free from the financial chains of former owner Tom Golisano and strike anew with a commitment to acquiring and keeping players deemed important foundational pieces.

Ristolainen is in that vein. He was the 8th-overall pick in the 2013 NHL Draft and hit the ice with the Sabres beginning that very same year. When the front office and coaching staff were dismissed, Ristolainen would eventually be sent to the "safe-haven" that was Rochester as Buffalo was about to embark on an ugly drop to the bottom of the league.

Does the signpost for Evander Kane point to Vancouver?

When Buffalo Sabres LW Evander Kane is on the ice, his power forward game is enviable. He's an extremely fast north/south skater who's not afraid of contact. He's also a very gifted pugilist as we saw when he knocked out noted pest Matt Cooke back in 2011 with a stunning right cross.

Sabres fans saw first-hand what he brought to the table in his first season in Buffalo as he racked up 20 goals and added 15 assists in 65 games. Although it's not eye-popping numbers, he was coming off of season-ending shoulder surgery in February 2015, plus six months of rehab, not to mention he was starting fresh with a new team, a new coach and system and different linemates on almost a nightly basis early in the season.

In an end of season impression and questions piece concerning Kane I wrote of a "duality" with him and that it will always be there with the real question being "how much can he keep his off-ice image, and the baggage that comes along with it, in check?" Well, apparently not that long as two months later he was in the midst of an altercation at a Buffalo bar in which he would eventually be face non-criminal charges.