With the trade of up-and-coming star Brandon Hagel and the recent comments of longtime captain Jonathan Toews, the direction new Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson is taking the franchise is a bold one and a polarizing one. He has embraced the term “rebuild,” and is clear in his intentions of doing everything within his power to maximize the long-term assets his club has access to. Naturally, this has led to questions surrounding the futures of the Blackhawks’ three franchise cornerstones- Toews, Seth Jones, and Patrick Kane. More specifically, immense attention has been devoted to Kane given his on-ice prowess and contract situation. Kane will be a pending unrestricted free agent next season, and if there is one consensus to be reached concerning rebuilding clubs, it’s that they all try to gain as much value on the trade market from pending unrestricted free agents as they can get. Which, again, leads to the questions surrounding Kane’s future. He is a sure-fire candidate to have his number retired in Chicago, and is among the greatest Blackhawks of all time, having played there his whole career. But does Davidson have Kane in his long-term plans for the team?
That question could be what Davidson has discussed this week, as he, according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, (subscription required) is expected to meet or has met prominent agent Pat Brisson, who represents Kane. LeBrun reports that Brisson, as Kane’s representation, will likely seek an answer to that question of whether Kane is in the team’s long-term plans. Trading Kane may seem unthinkable, but given everything Davidson has done in his brief tenure and everything he has signaled his intention to do, it cannot be ruled out.
LeBrun indicates that teams are “drooling” over the prospect of an available-for-trade Kane, and it’s easy to see why. Despite his age, Kane is as lethal of a scoring winger as he’s ever been. In 61 games this season, Kane leads the Blackhawks with 76 points, which is 102-point pace. The Flyers’ Claude Giroux was the biggest fish on the trade market during this deadline cycle, and he commanded that much interest as a player one year older than Kane and with worse production. (Giroux had 42 points in 57 games for the Flyers this season.) So it stands to reason that given the interest in Giroux, the Blackhawks could expect a bidding war of immense magnitude should Davidson be willing to entertain offers for Kane. It would likely be the kind of bidding war that could be extremely valuable for the Blackhawks and have the potential to speed up their rebuild on its own.
As for a team potentially considering acquiring Kane, trading for the 33-year-old winger would represent perhaps the ultimate win-now acquisition. Barring an extension, the acquiring team would be receiving just one year of team control over Kane, and need to absorb his substantial cap hit, which is set to be $10.5MM next season. Many of the contending teams that were reportedly set after Giroux this season, such as the New York Rangers, would likely have significant issues fitting that cap hit into their payroll. But if a team could get it done, they would be receiving a boost to their roster unlike many other trade acquisitions we have seen in recent NHL history. All of these factors bring us back to the central question: will Davidson decide to shop Kane, and will Kane (who has a full no-move clause, per CapFriendly, something that has become particularly important to note in recent days) agree to leave the only franchise he has ever known? If the answer is yes to both, NHL fans could be looking at a trade market sweepstakes unlike any other. So, given LeBrun’s reporting, this week’s expected meeting between Davidson and Brisson could go a long way towards determining if a contending team’s dreams of acquiring Kane will become reality.
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Honestly, what teams have the cap space and capital to acquire him? This is just more Cannon fodder. If Davidson decides to move him the haul would cripple the other team for years to come, so win-now only makes sense. Kane has stated he wants to retire here, so I don’t think the Hawks will move him unless he wants to go. Would love to see this conversation turn into an extension, but they have time for that.
There are teams that do, presuming that Kane would want to go to a contender. Nashville’s the obvious one; they have $26 million in cap space for next season, and Forsberg’s the only significant UFA to sign in the offseason.
Columbus will also have ample space, even after signing Laine and the rest of their FAs. Anaheim will have cap space to go after *several* whomever-they-hell-they-wants.
Chicago’s got to explore the scenario, anyway. It might wind up being that they talk to Kane and tell him that they’re not going to move him without his permission, so long as he signs an extension (not more than three years, and I wince at that much) with a hefty hometown discount. But otherwise, they’ve dynamited their roster enough already to put the notion of contending again within his career close to out of reach. I’m not so sure Kane’s worth $10.5 million any more, but he’s still a great player and a veteran leader that any team in the league would be glad to have.
Or, for the TL;DR version: if Jeremy Lauzon’s worth a second rounder, Patrick Kane’s close to being worth the second ROUND.
Buffalo? It’s Kane’s hometown and they have lots of cap space now that Eichel is gone. Just a possibility.
I think Buffalo should wait and try to sign him in the summer of 2023. They aren’t quite good enough to win next year so hold onto their assets and sign him as a free agent.
Kings do and I can see him going there.
@Ethan – “…has a full no-move clause, per CapFriendly, something that has become particularly important to note in recent days)” – ummm, there’s a Mr. Dadonov who left a strange voicemail on the PHR hotline – “No kidding!” :)
But putting the cart before the horse is what made Buffalo what it is today!
@Johnny Z – Word on the streets is that, instead of the usual motivational sign on the way out of the locker room to the ice (i.e. “Play Like a Champion Today!”), they have their own version – “Repeat after me: We WILL win the Draft Lottery this year!”
They have 7 points out of their last 8 points (all against teams in the playoffs or in the hunt) & that puts them at 7-2-1 in their last 10. With Power, Quinn, Peterka & UPL set to play for the Sabres next season they will be a team that is going to be very competitive next season. I wouldn’t want to trade multiple 1sts for Kane if I was the Sabres. I agree that either they look to him as a FA or they look elsewhere for better options. The Sabres need to look out for good value FAs. They just need to focus on getting to the cap floor for the next few seasons.
They aren’t going to be very competitive because a couple rookies come into the lineup. Quinn will be good but needs to get his head straight and UPL needs a solid defense in front of him. Not just 2 good kids
At least Kane will get them assets in a trade. They would be very lucky to get a 2nd or 3rd round pick for Toews
Toews on a 10.5 mil contract is untradeable
I feel and hoping Kane stays in Chicago to finish his career with the Hawks , and will honor it by taking a home town discount for a couple of years as extension to finish his reign one of the best Blackhawks of all time til , his number is raised in the rafters and a sure lock for Hall of Fame. And, hope Toews does the same to stay with his Buddy Kane.
Kaner need to chase another Cup!
He has 3, he’s done everything…the only thing left to help his legacy is retire a blackhawk
Draft picks will be looking sexy to Davidson going forward tho.
Patrick Kane should retire a Blackhawk.
But either way, a full NMC means he gets to decide, not Kyle Davidson.
Full NMC means you are your own GM.
Welcome to the Jackets, Patrick!
Kaner is the rare and unique type of player who could honestly play until he’s 45. Gather maximum value for him now to expedite a rebuild and sign him back in a few years once Chicago is ready to contend again. This way he gets the chance to contend for Cups and ultimately get what he wants in catching Mikita (in points) and becoming the greatest Blackhawk ever.