He's not even here, and the show has begun. The Red Wings locker room was buzzing Tuesday afternoon about you-know-who. When will he arrive? How will he look? Where will he play?
"There’s more of you guys today, so I’m sure there’s a reason," David Perron joked with a group of reporters. "There’s a little vibe. It’ll be great to hear the building when his name gets announced."
Patrick Kane, No. 88, is bringing Showtime to Little Caesars Arena, having agreed to a one-year, $2.75 million deal with Detroit, pending a physical. One of the most iconic Blackhawks ever is soon to be a Red Wing. One of the greatest players of all time isn't done yet. Kane can both re-assert himself in the NHL after playing hurt for most of last season and undergoing a hip operation in the offseason and help re-establish the Red Wings as a playoff team amid a seven-year drought.
One thing that's already clear? The jersey hanging in Kane's locker will bear the number he's made famous.
"He can have his number, no problem," said forward Daniel Sprong, who currently wears No. 88 in Detroit. "He made that number a trademark, so it’s definitely his." (As for what it might cost Kane, Sprong smiled and said, "I'll let him decide.)
Kane might be taking more than Sprong's number. He'll also need a spot in the Red Wings' top six and on one of their power play units. His offensive talent demands it. He'll certainly get some looks with Alex DeBrincat, his close friend and former linemate who might be the biggest reason Kane landed on the Wings as a free agent after talking with several other suitors. The two of them lit it up together in Chicago and could give Detroit a formidable first line on either side of Dylan Larkin.
DeBrincat kept in touch with Kane this season as the latter completed his rehab and started weighing his options in free agency. And Kane kept tabs on the Red Wings, who have raced out to an 11-6-3 start that places them fourth in the East through 20 games. He's a three-time Cup winner who would like the chance to compete for a fourth.
In their conversations, DeBrincat said he spoke highly of the way the Red Wings organization treats its players and the depth of the current team, "just feeling him out to see what he was looking for." Now they'll be looking for each other again on the ice.
"It’s exciting obviously," said DeBrincat. "We’ve been friends for a while and have some chemistry on the ice, so it should be fun. ... We know who each other are as players and where we like to be."
Like DeBrincat, Perron awoke to the news Tuesday on Twitter. The Red Wings alternate captain, who entered the NHL alongside Kane in 2007, said it was a nice way to start his day: "It proves, I think, what he sees (in us) himself and maybe also what we’re doing. We should be proud so far of the start we’ve had. And the beauty of it is, we can still be a lot better."
Kane is facing a tall challenge to bounce back from hip resurfacing surgery at age 35. Most players who've had the procedure have never been the same. But DeBrincat says that "if any guy can come back from that surgery, it’s him. He's kind of a hockey nerd and thinks hockey 24/7, so I’m sure in his off-time he’s worried about getting better and how he’s going to do that on his own."
"I think it’s more important that he’s feeling well and rejuvenated," DeBrincat said. "He's been missing the game quite a bit, so it's good to see him close to a return."
Derek Lalonde couldn't speak in specifics about the signing as the Wings have yet to make it official, but confirmed he and Steve Yzerman had a good, honest meeting with Kane over Zoom. He said the nine-time All-Star spoke to some 10 other teams and took a particular liking to the Wings' structure and the vision of "what we're trying to do here." It was less a recruiting pitch than a little hockey talk.
"Obviously a brilliant hockey mind, and you can tell he’s watched us a lot," said Lalonde. "It was an easy conversation: "What are you doing in the neutral zone, what are you doing in the D zone?' I just think the understanding of what kind of player he is, we feel he can fit in."
The Red Wings haven't lacked offense this season. They're fourth in the NHL in goals per game (3.70). But that's bound to come down at some point, and Kane will help when it does. He can still make magic with the puck, especially on the power play. The special teams battle is huge for the Wings, who need every edge they can find to track down some of their more talented foes in the East. If they keep winning it, they should keep winning games, perhaps into the spring.
"He’s a presence," said Perron, who played against Kane frequently during his stints with the Blues. "When you play names like that, you look at the lineup and you gotta be aware of when those guys are on the ice. And he’s still that and more."
To Perron, what stands out about Kane is his "confidence," which is difficult to capture in the NHL. Young players often search for it from shift to shift. Kane's swagger should have a positive effect on a mostly green group of forwards in Detroit, many of whom haven't played in the sort of high-stakes games the Red Wings are chasing.
"The way he carries himself, the way he carries himself with the puck, he’s done everything, he’s got all the big moments, he’s taken care of that," said Perron. "I played against him a lot when he was with Chicago and he always found a way to be in the middle of things and score big goals and make big plays."
But no one in Detroit's locker room understands Kane's game like DeBrincat. Over their five years together in Chicago, Kane ranked fourth in the NHL in points and DeBrincat ranked eighth in goals. And while Kane may have lost a step from those days, DeBrincat said the quality that makes the former MVP so dangerous is that "his hockey IQ is pretty high above a lot of other people."
"He’s able to slow the game down and make the game come to him. He’s obviously a guy that the other team is worried about and focused on, so he can draw a couple guys in and move that puck. It’s something that I kind of had to learn to play with," said DeBrincat. "He’s not a guy who’s maybe going to make the first play he sees. He’s going to hold onto it and then usually something better opens. His hockey IQ is just off the charts."
There will be an adjustment period, of course. Even DeBrincat said "it might take a little bit" for he and Kane to regain their chemistry. They'll be playing in a different system than the one they were used to in Chicago, and for all those goals they produced, Kane and DeBrincat were a combined minus-50 as teammates. That won't fly under Lalonde. The Red Wings have established too many good habits in their team game since last season to start chasing offense.
"You just ask him to follow along with what we’ve been doing of late," Lalonde said. "No different than any conversation and coaching with Alex DeBrincat, where Alex will obviously get a little bit of freedom and space to play his type of game, but at the same time, we need him to come around and manage his game with the rest of our group."
There is no debating Kane's status as a future Hall of Famer and one of the NHL's most dazzling players ever. What remains to be seen is what he has left, and whether the Red Wings can harness it to make a long-awaited return to the springtime stage. He's not here yet, but the lights are beckoning.
"Hopefully when he comes, he just slides right in and it’s another day for him," said Perron.
It's a reminder of the old days, when all-time greats came to Detroit to win Stanley Cups. The Red Wings aren't the team they were and Kane isn't quite the player he was, and neither will fully recapture their past. But if Kane can still slow down the game, the Wings can speed up their push to the playoffs.