Patrick Kane and the Red Wings were a natural fit five months ago, an older star wanting to prove he's still young, a younger club trying to find its old stride. A rebuilding team, a literally rebuilt player. The future Hall of Famer signed a modest one-year $2.75 million deal with Detroit coming off hip surgery, then put up 47 points in 50 games. Now, the fit isn't so clear.
Kane, for one, will be seeking a multi-year deal and a raise in free agency. He'll have plenty of suitors. More to the point, he'll probably prioritize playing with a legitimate Cup contender, and the Red Wings aren't there yet. They fell just short of the playoffs this season in the weakest wild card race on record in the East. Kane met or exceeded almost all expectations, including his own. His resurgence in Detroit surpassed that of the Wings.
Kane dreamed of playing for the Red Wings ever since moving to the area as a teen and living with Pat Verbeek during his junior hockey days. He fell for them at their best. That was part of the reason he signed here, along with the stature of GM Steve Yzerman and the chance to reunite with close friend Alex DeBrincat. It just felt right. Kane enjoyed the ride and would likely make the same decision if he had to do it over again. But after cleaning out his locker on Thursday, he was talking about the Red Wings in the past tense. Showtime might be over.
"It was a great year," he said. "I have nothing but positive things to say about the organization. The opportunity from Steve and (Derek Lalonde) to give me the chance to come and play and the situations I was put in, I feel like I got a lot of opportunities to play in the top six and power play and just play with some great players. So, it was fun to be around the group. It was to fun be a Wing and in this organization and I'll definitely have some memories to last me a lifetime."
That sounds more like a player who's planning his departure than his return. Kane, who turns 36 next season, only has a handful of years left in the NHL. As good as he felt after his long-overdue hip procedure, "pain-free" for the first time in years, is he spending two or three of his final seasons with a team that's toiling just to get into the playoffs? Unlikely.
Asked which factors he'll weigh most heavily in free agency, Kane said it's a little early to know for sure. He said his decision this season "was based on playing on a good team, a team where I thought I fit in well, and obviously the comfort of playing with Alex again was something I was looking forward to and really enjoyed that as well. But as the season goes on, you realize there’s a lot of good players here to play with."
He said his decision "will be real similar going forward, too. It's like, how do I fit in with the team? Who would I play with? Things like that. Obviously, from being in Chicago for so long and then going to New York and coming to Detroit, maybe looking for a little more stability as far as term. But I think the right situation matters, too."
As he prepares for free agency again, Kane said he will "explore the situation here, talk to my agent, go over everything and see what makes sense." That is, what makes the most sense. Remember, Kane drew serious interest this year from contenders like the Panthers, Stars and Golden Knights and won't know his full breadth of options until the playoffs conclude and teams start reaching out. While it's easy to connect No. 88 to the Blackhawks or his hometown Sabres, there will be actual contenders that come calling after watching him play this season.
Asked for his view on the Red Wings, it wasn't so much what Kane said as what he didn't say.
"I think they’re in a great spot," he said. "I think the situation with the young players, Larkin, his competitiveness, young players stepping up at the right times and playing well in the important games, Seider, Raymond, DeBrincat, Edvinsson. These guys coming up, they’re so young and they still have so much to give to the game but they’re impact players right now in the most important games. And I know they have a lot of good young prospects as well, so I think the future is really bright for the team."
In other words, the future is more appealing than the present. That's not a knock on the Red Wings, who should continue to improve. It's the reality of their ongoing rebuild, which is so gradual it's grueling. It doesn't take a hockey savant like Patrick Kane to see that. If Kane considered the Wings a current contender, he would have said as much. That's exactly what he'll say about wherever he signs next: It's a chance to win the Cup. He would have at least mentioned the playoffs. He spoke instead of the future.
"I guess we’ll kind of see what happens," he said. "I'm sure my agent and Steve will have those conversations and we'll go from there."
There's little doubt the Red Wings would like to bring Kane back. They raved about his impact from the moment he arrived, especially Lalonde. On and off the ice, he was a positive addition. And Kane should continue to round back into form with his healthy hip. After scoring at a 23-goal, 64-point pace last season while stiff-legged and playing through pain, he came in at a 32-goal, 77-point pace in 50 games this season.
"He’s been great," Lalonde said last week. "The offense he’s produced, the leadership he’s brought, the presence he’s brought to the team, he’s been everything as advertised."
For Kane, the best part about pain-free is that his hip isn't "at the forefront of my mind now where it's like you’re thinking about this injury every day." He did say he "still needs some explosiveness back," which he plans to work on this summer now that he can "train like an athlete again."
"Which I haven't done the past few years, which is exciting for me," he said.
Kane doesn't plan to retire anytime soon. Hockey is in his blood and bones. With a smile, he said "he thinks "I can play a long time, to be honest with you. I'm 35, but hopefully play 'till 40, maybe even -- who knows. It's like, you just keep playing. I think with the situation I’m in right now, I’m pretty optimistic as far as how long I can play and where I’m at."
Where he'll play next remains to be seen. If Kane was everything as advertised for the Red Wings, the same was mostly true in reverse. The Red Wings are a first-class organization with passionate fans in a great hockey market. They just aren't yet the team Kane remembers, and he only has so many more memories to make.