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Evander Kane’s reps silent on six-year offer from Jets

Winnipeg Jets v Toronto Maple Leafs

TORONTO, CANADA- JANUARY 5: Evander Kane #9 of the Winnipeg Jets skates in the warm-up prior to a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on January 5, 2012 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)

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Over at the Winnipeg Free Press, Gary Lawless updates the latest fromthe Evander Kane contract front -- most notably, the perceived stalling from Camp Kane:

GM Kevin Cheveldayoff has put a six-year contract worth close to $29 million on the table and Kane’s people have had it sitting in a desk drawer for a number of weeks now.

They haven’t said no and they haven’t said yes.

They haven’t said much at all.

Among the key points brought up:

-- The delay’s caused some consternation over the possibility of Kane getting signed to an offer sheet, something Lawless says is unlikely to happen.

And even if it does, Lawless says the Jets will match.

Buoyed by a ownership group that’s “among the wealthiest in the NHL,” Winnipeg has shown no issues with spending money. This summer alone the Jets dropped $28.7 million on Tobias Enstrom, $19.5 million on Ondrej Pavelec and $9 million on Olli Jokinen.

-- Lawless also sees the $29 million as a very fair figure for someone of Kane’s status.

Cheveldayoff has made a long-term, big money offer for a 20-year-old player with one good season to date. Kane scored 30 goals and added 27 assists in his third year in the NHL. His previous two seasons were pedestrian.

New York Islanders centre John Tavares, who has 202 career points over three seasons to Kane’s 126, recently signed a six-year deal worth $33 million. Is Tavares worth more than Kane? As a playmaking centre that can also score the answer is definitively yes.

Kane is currently in the final year of a three-year, $2.7 million deal that paid $900,000 annually (though with performance bonuses, that jumped to $3.1 million.)

Because he joined the NHL at age 18 and has already played three full seasons, he will be eligible for unrestricted free agency in four years -- before his 25th birthday.