With Vladimir Tarasenko now off the market following his trade earlier this week, Blackhawks winger Patrick Kane is starting to generate more attention. Earlier this week, he was linked to the Stars and the Rangers (with New York likely out of the picture now following the Tarasenko deal). Three more teams have been added to that mix as Scott Powers and Mark Lazerus of The Athletic report (subscription link) that the Hurricanes, Wild, and Golden Knights have confirmed interest in the veteran.
Of course, it must also be noted that Kane might not necessarily have interest in any of those teams. The 34-year-old has a full no-move clause in his deal and if he decides that he’s willing to waive it, it’s expected that the shortlist of options he’d provide Chicago with would be quite small, not unlike what happened with Claude Giroux last season when he okayed a trade from Philadelphia.
Carolina, Minnesota, and Vegas all have a fair amount of cap space which presents an opportunity where they might not need a third team to be involved to retain an extra 25% of the $10.5MM contract, assuming Chicago retains 50% as expected. For the Hurricanes, Max Pacioretty’s season-ending Achilles injury opened up $7MM in LTIR room while the Golden Knights have plenty of room (at least for the time being) with Mark Stone and his $9.5MM eligible for LTIR; he hasn’t been placed there just yet. Meanwhile, Minnesota has banked enough cap space (per CapFriendly) that they could absorb Kane’s contract outright.
What’s notable about these suitors – including Dallas from earlier – is that all of them project to be short-term options only for Kane. With their existing commitments for next season, there’s basically no way they could afford the 16-year veteran at market value. Would Kane want to go somewhere as a strict rental and then hit the open market in July or might his preference be to land with a team that has the intention to keep him for 2023-24 and beyond? That will certainly be a question he ponders over the next couple of weeks before notifying Chicago of his intentions.
Have no idea why he would or even why he should, but I’d love to see Kane pull an Iggy and demand a trade to the Pens.
Pens will be lucky to even MAKE the playoffs. That isn’t what he wants. He wants to win and they have zero shot this year. Even if Jarry comes back and plays lights out down the stretch.
“Have no idea why he would or even why he should…”
You don’t say.
And we’ll make the playoffs. Or, if not, Uncle Gary will rig the draft so we get Connor Bedard, right?
Cuz he loves the 32nd largest media market in North America just that much.
He needs to gone home. That’s where he would make the most impact and be that veteran to help push them to go far in the playoffs.
Buffalo isn’t even a guarantee to make the playoffs & if they would sneak in, they aren’t likely to go deep this time around even with Kane. The defense & goaltending isn’t good enough yet
Don’t see Kane waiving his trade protection to go to Minnesota. Carolina would make sense if he wants to go to a true Cup contender.
I don’t know why Minnesota would want him. They’ve been getting away from vets that are slowing down. He’d help (most teams can say that), but I’m not sure he’d be the fit that made me a real contender.
Oilers have a deal for Kane in their back pocket. Google it lol
The issue w Kane is how healthy is he? He can definitely still help a team but I think if the Hawks trade him, he isnt going to get quite the return we expect. I’ll guess he does get traded though. Random guess: Dallas.
If I were Patrick Kane, I would take a 3 month shot at another Cup. Then, I’d take my time and get my hip right. Hawks pre game said that Kane has been playing with this for 3 years and it’s totally manageable. Still, I’d get it right before I sign even if I have to miss a bit of next year. Crazy possibility? Hawks end up with Bedard and Kane resigns to play alongside him, Takes the time to heal and he finishes up in Chicago. He’s not going to cost 10 million a year anymore. At least he shouldn’t.
I feel like Toews and Kane may both do that
Another even crazier idea is the Hawks resign Debrincat. Everyone is complaining about that trade but Debrincat always was going to go for FA so what Davidson got for a one year rental was spectacular. And we haven’t even seen the 3rd guy in that deal as it was a 2024 3rd rounder. Korchinski and Ludwinski are both looking like above average players with Korchinski being a stud. I like what Davidson has done so far but now is not the time to pat himself on the back. it’s time to dig in and work harder. He’s got a ton of assets and this could be a short rebuild if some ping pong balls fall right.