The Chicago Blackhawks were dealt a major blow Tuesday when forward and top-scorer Patrick Kane was injured during the team's game against the Florida Panthers.
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Kane underwent surgery on his left clavicle on Thursday after his injury Tuesday night and is expected to miss up to 12 weeks, sidelining him until at least the Western Conference Finals, should the Blackhawks make it that far.
Kane, 26, was tied atop the NHL with 64 points and led Chicago with 27 goals and 37 assists before the injury, creating a huge void for the team up front.
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If the Blackhawks are to get to the Western Conference Finals for the third straight season, they'll need someone to pick up the slack in Kane's absence.
While the team could always choose to promote from within, the NHL trade deadline is looming this Monday and Chicago can make a potential trade to replace him in the lineup.
The Blackhawks don't have a lot of cap space to play with this season, so rental players are likely the short-term answer for them going forward as they look for their third Stanley Cup in the last six campaigns.
Chicago enters Thursday with a 36-20-5 record for 77 points and sits in the third and final automatic playoff spot in the Central Division.
Here are three players the Blackhawks could trade for to replace Kane in the lineup:
1) Jaromir Jagr, New Jersey Devils: The Czech superstar has been linked to trade rumors a lot in the past month and with his deal set to expire at the end of this season, it's likely the Devils may pull the trigger on a swap.
Jagr would bring a winning pedigree and veteran experience to the Blackhawks and at age 42 he's shown no signs of slowing down just yet.
After leading New Jersey with 67 points in 2013-14, Jagr is second on the team with 29 points in 2014-15 off of 11 goals and 18 assists on the campaign.
The Devils are likely to deal Jagr as they currently have 59 points and are eight points out of the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with plenty of teams to jump.
2) Antoine Vermette, Arizona Coyotes: Vermette is another veteran player who has been linked to trade rumors for over a month now as the Coyotes appear to be in full tanking mode.
Vermette is second on Arizona with 22 assists and 35 points while his 13 goals rank third on the team. Vermette, a center, has won 56.1 percent of his face-offs this season.
Vermette, 32, has six power play goals and 13 points on the man advantage thus far this season.
The Coyotes appear to be in full selling mode as they are in 13th in the Western Conference with 47 points, 23 points out of a playoff spot.
3) Chris Stewart, Buffalo Sabres: Stewart doesn't bring the intangibles that Kane does for the Blackhawks, but he could be a quick fix for now if the team needs more depth at forward.
Stewart is third on the struggling Sabres with 10 goals and has added 13 assists for 23 points thus far this season.
Stewart is tied for the Buffalo lead with five power play goals on the campaign while he also has 10 points on the man advantage.
The 27-year-old winger is not the most attractive option, especially compared to Jagr or Vermette, but he is an option nonetheless.
Buffalo is on the bottom of the standings with 41 points, so they're likely to be busy ahead of Monday's deadline.
Losing Kane is a tough break for the Blackhawks and while it will be hard for them to replace him, they may make a few trades ahead of Monday's deadline to bolster their lineup for the push to the Stanley Cup playoffs.
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