It began as a fanciful notion, after the Red Wings acquired Alex DeBrincat. Could Patrick Kane to Detroit become a reality?
It sounds like a distinct possibility as Kane nears a decision on where he'll play this season and perhaps next after undergoing hip resurfacing surgery in the offseason. Per NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, Kane is down to two teams, who happen to be tied for second in the Atlantic Division: the Panthers and the Red Wings. His hometown Sabres also bear watching.
Friedman reported over the weekend that Kane, the future Hall of Famer who turned 35 this month, is expected to reveal his intentions in the coming days. And while "it's tougher than an escape room to figure out where he's going," Friedman said, "a lot of us have speculated Florida, there’s no question about that, but I believe another team that he’s collected a lot of information about is Detroit."
"I wouldn't want to hazard a guess or say anything with 100 percent, but I do believe that he’s down to a couple of teams and I think we’re going to know early this upcoming week," Friedman said.
Kane wants to sign with a team that will give him a chance to compete for a Stanley Cup, which is why the Panthers feel like a more logical choice this season than the Wings. They won the East last season, their roster is only getting healthier and the sunny, no-income-tax Florida lifestyle surely appeals to Kane at this point in his career.
But the Red Wings can offer Kane two things that the Panthers can't: the cap space to facilitate a multi-year deal that Kane considers fair market value and the chance to reunite with DeBrincat, his former linemate. Over their five seasons together with the Blackhawks, DeBrincat ranked eighth in the NHL in goals (160) and Kane ranked fourth in the NHL in points (428). They are also close off the ice.
The potential sticking point for Steve Yzerman and the Red Wings will likely come down to the cost and the term of the contract. It's doubtful Detroit wants to commit for more than a year to a 16-year vet coming off a surgical procedure from which few, if any, NHL players have emerged better on the other side. Kane's best hockey is already behind him, and there's no telling what he'll look like moving forward.
But could Detroit use another difference-maker in its top six? You bet. And it's not like Kane has fallen off completely: he had 57 points in 73 games while playing hurt for most of last season, and 92 points in 78 games the season before that, his last playing with DeBrincat. He's 15th in the NHL and eighth among wingers in points per game over his last five seasons. That'll work.
Kane also has a history with Dylan Larkin, having played with Detroit's captain at three World Championships for Team USA. The Red Wings have a proud lineage of Russians and Swedes, but an All-American line of Kane-Larkin-DeBrincat could vault this team into a higher class in the East. Detroit is on pace for 100-plus points as it is, and trying to snap a franchise-worst seven-year playoff drought.
Kane spent the first several seasons of his career trying to beat the Wings, when they were rivals with the Blackhawks in the West. Detroit knocked Chicago out of the playoffs in 2009, then Chicago returned the favor in 2013. The Red Wings haven't won a playoff series since. Could No. 88 help change that? From beating the Wings to perhaps needing the Wings, maybe Kane will spend one of his final seasons in Detroit.