Patrick Kane, a former Hart and Conn Smythe Trophy winner who had 92 points two years ago, is a free agent.
How concerned should Bruins be after back-to-back losses?
The Bruins, a contender that lost a lot of offense from last season, have barely even been mentioned as a possible landing spot.
Until Monday, that is. On his “32 Thoughts” podcast Monday, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman said that Boston “might” be among the teams that have “poked around” on Kane.
“There’s a couple teams out there who suspect that Boston might be another team that’s poked around on this,” Friedman said. “It’s all circumstantial evidence, but it makes sense because the thing about Boston is they’re a good team, they could win. I don’t know if they could do more than one year. I am not sure that makes any sense for them. But they are the kind of organization that would look at Kane and say, ‘Does this help us?’ Or in a good year, ‘What can we add to make us better?’
“If you look at last year, they went for it. They lost in the first round, they gave up a lot of capital, but it was a go-for-it year for them. … And they’re good again. I just thought I would mention it, because it does kind of fit with Boston’s DNA of, ‘We’re good. What can we add, at what cost?’ And this makes sense to me.”
OK then. Let’s start here: By Friedman’s own admission, this is more speculation or educated guessing than stone-cold reporting. He said during the same segment that Kane’s camp has played things very close to the vest, with virtually no leaks from their side. This is just something that “a couple teams out there suspect.”
It also is not any sort of suggestion that the Bruins are the favorites, or one of the favorites. Those seem to be the Detroit Red Wings and Florida Panthers based on various reports and rumors, including Friedman’s own commentary.
Nonetheless, this begs the question: Could signing Kane really make sense for the Bruins?
Let’s start with the reasons why it might. We already covered some of Kane’s resume, but it’s worth repeating that this is a future Hall of Famer. Three-time Stanley Cup champions who have 138 points in 143 career playoff games just aren’t available very often.
Even at age 34 and while playing through a hip injury, Kane was fairly productive offensively last season, putting up 57 points in 73 regular-season games split between the Chicago Blackhawks and New York Rangers, followed by six points in seven playoff games for the Rangers.
And he wouldn’t cost the Bruins anything except money. For a team that is already short on draft capital and high-end prospects after years of going all-in, being able to add without giving up any of either would certainly be appealing.
There are also plenty of reasons why it wouldn’t make sense, though. For starters, the Bruins have very little cap space. Either Kane would have to be willing to sign for something close to league minimum, or the Bruins would have to trade someone away to free up money if he wants more than that. It’s unlikely the B’s would be able to compete in any sort of bidding war with a team like Detroit that has over $5 million in cap space. Kane is not eligible to sign the kind of incentive-laden, over-35 deal that Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci signed last year.
Second, and perhaps most importantly, there is zero guarantee you’re getting anything close to vintage Kane. His all-around game has dropped off precipitously. While defense was never a strong suit, some metrics suggest that his complete lack of it in recent years now outweighs whatever he brings offensively in terms of 5-on-5 impact. The Bruins have already had issues with rush defense this season, and Kane would make that worse, not better. They would need to be convinced that he still brings enough offensively, including on the power play, that they can outscore his defensive deficiencies.
Making it harder to be convinced of that is the fact that Kane underwent hip resurfacing surgery in June. Returning to a high level of play after that surgery would make Kane the exception to the rule. Ryan Kesler never played another NHL game after undergoing the procedure in 2019. Nicklas Backstrom has played 47 since having it done in June 2022, but has been unable to reach his previous levels of production and announced earlier this month that he was stepping away from the Capitals due to ongoing issues. He had one point in eight games.
Like Kane is now, Backstrom was adamant that he was fully healthy and ready to go. As far as surgeries and rehabs have come over the years, serious hip injuries to hockey players – especially those in their 30s – remain a legitimate threat to careers. The Bruins saw Tuukka Rask retire after attempting a comeback from surgery on a torn hip labrum. Brad Marchand said he never quite felt like himself last season after undergoing a double hip arthroscopy and labral repair.
Third, and most uncomfortably, signing Kane would open up the Bruins up to the public relations hit that might follow Kane anywhere he goes. Kane was arrested for allegedly punching a cab driver in 2009 and eventually pled guilty to noncriminal disorderly conduct charges. He was accused of sexual assault in 2015, but was never charged. He was a Blackhawks team leader at the time the organization failed to properly address Kyle Beach’s allegation that he was sexually assaulted by a coach, although Kane has denied knowing anything about that situation when it was happening in 2010.
Given what the Bruins put themselves through with the ill-fated Mitchell Miller signing last year and what they’re dealing with now after Milan Lucic’s arrest, they may just want to steer totally clear of anything that brings even a whiff of bad PR.
Poking around on Kane is understandable. But for a variety of reasons, it seems unlikely that the Bruins would ultimately be the team that actually signs him.