2015 NHL Draft
SHARE
Share with your Friends


Kane excited by 'fresh start' with Sabres: report

Wednesday, 02.11.2015 / 7:45 PM / 2015 NHL Trade Deadline

NHL.com

Share with your Friends


Kane excited by 'fresh start' with Sabres: report
Evander Kane said he is looking forward to a "fresh start" with the Buffalo Sabres after being traded to them by the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday.

Left wing Evander Kane said he is looking forward to a "fresh start" with the Buffalo Sabres after being traded to them by the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday.

"I'm definitely glad to be moving on and I'm going to have a fresh start with a new team," Kane told Pierre LeBrun of ESPN.com. "I'm looking forward to the future for sure."

That future won't start until next season because Kane is sidelined after surgery to repair his left shoulder. He told LeBrun the timing of the surgery was not based on him being scratched from a game last week and a reported problem with some teammates.

"I had it (the shoulder injury) last year and it got worse over the last two months," Kane said. "And actually, when they went in there to do the surgery, they found a hole in my shoulder as well and some other things they had to fix. It was a little more complicated than everyone thought at first, so it's really good we got it fixed now.

"That some people thought I was having surgery just to end my season, that's so not true. That's the biggest thing I want to make clear."

Kane and defenseman Zach Bogosian went to the Sabres, with the Jets acquiring defenseman Tyler Myers, forward Drew Stafford, forward prospects Joel Armia and Brendan Lemieux, and a first-round pick in the 2015 NHL Draft.

Buffalo is 30th in the NHL standings and could have the opportunity to select top prospects Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel in the draft.

"There's a lot of excitement for the future in Buffalo," Kane said. "Just looking at next year, they're going to get a top pick and that's exciting. Just to have one of those two guys maybe to play with next year, plus the other young players on that team.

"The sense I got from Buffalo is that, yes they're rebuilding but they're not going to sit around and wait. They're looking to do something now. It's nice to go somewhere where you feel wanted and you feel that they want to put you in a situation to have success."

Kane addressed reports of conflicts with teammates that surrounded his being scratched from a game against the Vancouver Canucks in his hometown.

"There's definitely a lot more to it than some of the funny story lines that came out," Kane said. "Sometimes you have to just let a story die and I guess that's what we'll do. But it was definitely disappointing with how everything shook out and some of the information was misconstrued, misleading, some of the facts kind of came out wrong or didn't come out at all. That's to be expected. …"

Kane, 23, was the fourth pick in the 2009 NHL Draft. He had 10 goals and 12 assists in 37 games this season, and has career totals of 109 goals and 113 assists (222 points) in 361 NHL games.

"I'm excited, very excited about the trade," he said.

NHL.TV™

NHL GameCenter LIVE™ is now NHL.TV™.
Watch out-of-market games and replays with an all new redesigned media player, mobile and connected device apps.

LEARN MORE

NHL Mobile App

Introducing the new official NHL App, available for iPhone, iPad and Android smartphones and tablets. A host of new features and improved functionality are available across all platforms, including a redesigned league-wide scoreboard, expanded news coverage, searchable video highlights, individual team experiences* and more. The new NHL App on your tablet also introduces new offerings such as 60fps video, Multitasking** and Picture-in-Picture.

*Available only for smartphones
** Available only for suported iPads