Patrick Kane’s name carries recognition like few others in the NHL. He’s a three-time Stanley Cup champion with both regular season and playoff MVPs playing for an Original Six team in a major American city.
If Kane — a pending unrestricted free agent — is in fact dealt by the Chicago Blackhawks before the March 3 deadline, it will mark the first time a guy with multiple championships and a Hart Trophy on his resume was traded since the Philadelphia Flyers shipped a 33-year-old Peter Forsberg to the Nashville Predators in February of 2007.
Still, some might look at a guy on a 12-goal pace who turned 34 a month ago and wonder if the reputation outstrips the reality of who the player is.
Rest assured, there’s plenty of substance here.
Kane may be having his worst statistical season in a long time, but he’s also having it for a Chicago team that’s got four wins since late October. The only reason we’re even having this discussion about Kane — who has clearly agonized over whether he wants to go or stay — being moved is because it’s got to be killing the ultra-competitive guy to endure L after L knowing the chances he’s got left to win it all are limited.
And, obviously, when a team wins as infrequently as the Hawks, it’s a good indication there are precious few quality players for Kane to skate beside in the lineup.
Even with the fact Chicago has a .469 points percentage in the three seasons that preceded this one, Kane still produced 1.24 points per game during that stretch. Only five players — Connor McDavid, Nikita Kucherov, Leon Draisaitl, Nathan MacKinnon and Artemi Panarin — scored at a higher clip in that time.
And even if his Cup-raising days — starting with his title-clinching overtime goal in 2010 — seem like a distant memory, you can absolutely bet teams value his big-game pedigree. You think there’s going to be a spot too hot for this guy who’s three-for-three in the Stanley Cup Final, to say nothing of those heavyweight tilts Chicago and L.A. waged a decade ago in the Western Conference Final?
What will it take to get this done? For reference, the top offensive player available on the rental market last winter, Claude Giroux, ultimately fetched a first-rounder and Owen Tippett — a once-heralded prospect in need of a scenery change — for Philadelphia, which also sent a fifth-rounder and a pair of 2016 draftees that never broke through to Florida with their longtime captain. Giroux and Kane are both 1988-born players, and as good as the former is, the latter obviously carries a bit more of a profile.
Regardless of where Kane ends up, there’s some expectation the Hawks will retain salary and/or involve a third team to act as a salary-eater. (Philly retained 50 per cent of Giroux’s salary last spring).
Now that the NHL roster freeze has lifted — and the deadline is basically only two months away — it’s time to contemplate which teams could be all in for No. 88’s stretch-run and playoff services.
New York Rangers
Broadway has seemed like a plausible landing spot from the jump. One thing that immediately pops out about the Rangers is they have two 2023 first-rounders thanks to the September trade that sent Nils Lundkvist to Dallas. They could put a first and second on the table — which is what Chicago got from Ottawa for Kane’s old pal Alex DeBrincat — and still make a first-round selection in this loaded 2023 draft.
It’s worth remembering Kane — as was the case with Giroux — has full control over this process thanks to his no-move clause. How many teams could make a better pitch to Kane — who grew up in Western New York — than the Original Six club that plays at Madison Square Garden?
Boston Bruins
Jake DeBrusk’s bounce-back season has been a huge boon for the Bruins and you could make a case the B’s are in less need of secondary scoring than they’ve been in a while. That said, this team has the highest of goals and has to know there are a limited amount of cracks they’re going to get at it with Patrice Bergeron (37 years old), David Krejci (36) and Brad Marchand (34) all firmly in the third act of their careers.
Kane and the Blackhawks beat the Bruins in the 2013 final and that was one of two showcase series (the other being 2019) Boston has lost since claiming the Cup in 2011. We might be in now-or-never territory for the B’s in terms of scaling the mountain again with this crew of core forwards.
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Penguins have only made three first-round selections since 2013; why stop trading them now? One of the last times we saw a player of Kane’s stature traded as a rental was nine years ago when the Penguins swooped in and acquired Jarome Iginla from the only NHL team he’d ever known, the Calgary Flames.
Sidney Crosby is having a monster year, Evgeni Malkin is still a point-per-game player and Pittsburgh’s goalies have been really solid this year. Maybe Crosby and Kane could chase fourth Cups together.
Carolina Hurricanes
Carolina Hurricanes, expected goals for percentage at five-on-five rank this year: first. Carolina Hurricanes, goals-per-game rank: 20th.
Since the 2019 post-season, 19 teams have played at least 20 playoff games. Among those clubs, Carolina ranks 13th in goals per game with 2.69.
You could make a case the Canes should be hunting a centre (Bo Horvat?) more than a winger, but wouldn’t Kane be a fantastic game-breaker on this squad that just feels like it hasn’t been able to scrape up goals when it needs them most?
New York Islanders
Before we go any further, let’s acknowledge that while two of the three teams that play in New York State are on this list, the one that’s not — the Buffalo Sabres — would be by far the most fun landing spot for Kane. Alas, it’s just hard to see how his hometown squad is a fit because the Sabres — though on the rise — aren’t exactly a top-tier contender right now and goal-scoring is the one area of the rink Buffalo has figured out.
So let’s set the Sabres pipedream aside and muse about the Isles. Don’t forget, this squad went to the Final Four in both 2020 and 2021. There was some notion New York would get in on the likes of free agents Johnny Gaudreau and Nazem Kadri this summer to give the offence a boost, but it never materialized.
Could GM Lou Lamoriello be saving his bullets for Kane?
Somebody is going to pull the trigger and whoever does will be getting the kind of player who rarely becomes available.
