Evander Kane among NHL's elite scorers since December
Whether he's boosting his trade value or simply keeping the Buffalo Sabres' slim playoff hopes alive, Evander Kane has been one of the league's hottest goal-producers over the last couple of months.
The underrated sniper was center stage Saturday night, and he didn't disappoint in a road game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Hockey Night in Canada.
Kane scored his 17th and 18th goals of the season in a 3-1 victory over the Leafs, leapfrogging Kyle Okposo for the team lead in 10 fewer games than his teammate while padding his impressive totals since the final month of 2016.
With his 2nd goal, Evander Kane ranks 4th in the league with 18 goals since Dec. 1, including an NHL-best 17 at even strength in that span.
— Sabres PR (@SabresPR) February 12, 2017
Kane is occasionally overlooked on a team loaded with talented forwards including Jack Eichel, Okposo, Sam Reinhart, and Ryan O'Reilly, but he's been piling up goals since being forced to miss 11 games earlier in the season following a crash into the boards on Oct. 13.
Saturday's double-dip was his third multi-goal game in the last eight contests, and he has 12 points in his last 12.
The Sabres will eventually have to decide whether to extend or deal Kane, who's in the penultimate season of the six-year, $31.5-million contract he inked while a member of the Winnipeg Jets in 2012.
General manager Tim Murray, who acquired him from the Jets in a blockbuster deal consummated exactly two years ago Saturday, said Friday that he's not actively seeking to move the 25-year-old winger and hasn't made a single call to shop him.
Regardless of what the future holds for Kane and the Sabres, he deserves to be mentioned among the league's most productive goal scorers for the time being.