Rangers’ salary cap situation delaying Patrick Kane trade timeline

SAN JOSE, Calif. — All eyes around the NHL are focused on the Rangers’ salary-cap situation while waiting for the seemingly inevitable Patrick Kane trade.

Kane will presumably miss the Blackhawks’ game Monday against the Ducks as he remains in Chicago, having traveled back Saturday and missed the Hawks’ win over the Sharks. It was just the ninth game since 2007 and first since 2015 in which the Hawks’ lineup included neither Kane nor Jonathan Toews.

But even with the longtime franchise cornerstone now away from the team — which did not hold practice Sunday — it appears it will take some time before anything becomes official.

That’s because the Rangers are working with tiny margins to make Kane fit, even with 50% salary retention by the Hawks and 25% by a third-party team.

Jake Leschyshyn cleared waivers Sunday, allowing the Rangers to assign him and his $766,667 cap hit to Hartford of the AHL. 

But the collective bargaining agreement requires teams to field a full 20-man roster whenever possible under the cap, so the Rangers had to call up Ryan Carpenter (yes, the former Hawks forward) and his $750,000 cap hit for their game Sunday against the Kings.

The relevance of that roughly $17,000 difference exemplifies how tight this will be. The Rangers will very slowly accumulate more space with each passing day.

It remains unclear whether an additional factor — the injury to Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren on Saturday — will affect matters. Rangers coach Gerard Gallant told reporters Sunday he didn’t think Lindgren’s injury was “serious,” which is actually the opposite prognosis to what would’ve made a Kane trade potentially easier.

As such, all parties will continue to wait. It’s likely the trade won’t go through until at least Wednesday, TSN’s Chris Johnston reported, and it’s possible it won’t until right before the NHL trade deadline Friday.

Katchouk struggling

Hawks forward Boris Katchouk has not experienced the kind of second-year leap he was hoping for this season.

“I’m obviously struggling,” he said recently. “It’s so hard to gain confidence in this league. But every day I’m trying to come in with a positive attitude and try my best. It’s the least I can do. Sometimes the opportunity is there; sometimes it’s not. But that’s hockey.”

It wasn’t always so obvious that Katchouk would be nothing more than a depth forward. He was a second-round pick by the Lightning in 2016 and racked up 34 points in 29 games for Syracuse in the 2021 AHL season.

He now touts just 13 points in 93 NHL games over the past two seasons, however, including six points in 34 games this season. He’s currently mired in an eight-game drought. He has also been healthy-scratched 17 times and has averaged less than 10 minutes of ice time per game when in the lineup.

Asked if his low morale is connected to his low playing time, he admitted he “can’t say it’s not.”

“But I’m still getting the opportunity to get on the ice,” he added. “I still have to show what I can do. It doesn’t matter how many minutes you get or anything.”

Coach Luke Richardson was more optimistic about Katchouk’s situation.

“Offensively, everybody wants to have a little more success, and it’s tough because he’s in…more of a checking role,” Richardson said. “But we’re happy with his play. He’s a big body, he plays physical and skates [well], so he’s doing his job for us right now.”