Sabres GM says he isn't shopping Evander Kane

Tim Murray insists he's not actively looking to move Evander Kane.

"I wouldn't rule it out, (but) I'm not pursuing a trade with him," the Buffalo Sabres general manager told WGR 550's Mike Schopp on air Friday evening.

"I haven't made a call with regard to him to other teams," Murray added. "I'm a big fan of his game. He plays in our top six, (and) he plays a hard, gritty, heavy game with speed, and that's a rare combination."

The GM reiterated that there's always the chance he could be blown away by an offer, but stressed again that he isn't initiating talk with respect to Kane.

"Is there a crazy deal that somebody could throw at me that would force me to do it? I guess there is, (and) I've said that all along about every player," Murray said.

"So I'm not going to back down on that now, but I can tell you that I'm not making calls trying to trade him. I'm not throwing rumors out there or getting a media guy to help me out and say, 'Evander is available,' (or) that type of thing. Not at all. He's the type of guy I think we need if we want to be competitive every night and be a playoff team."

Kane scored twice including the game-winner in overtime to beat the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night, and he ranks second on the Sabres behind Kyle Okposo with 16 goals in 10 fewer games than his teammate.

He's also been embroiled in several controversies away from the rink, but Murray says the club has addressed them.

"The off-ice stuff, we've worked through that, we continue to work with him and work through that. It'll never be forgotten ... but on the ice, what I see now is what we traded for, and I'm a fan of his game," said the GM.

Kane carries a $5.25-million cap hit this season and next, before potentially becoming an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2018.