Chris Johnston reported on TSN Insider Trading today that unrestricted free agent forward Patrick Kane and his agent Pat Brisson have formally opened discussions with teams about the 34-year-old’s next contract. It is believed that Kane is talking to at least four Eastern Conference teams and possibly even a fifth.
Kane opted to have offseason hip surgery after dealing with a nagging injury for most of last season. He had the procedure on June 1st and was expected to have a 4–6-month recovery period. He appears to be on track to return to the NHL within that timeline. The injury likely hindered the three-time Stanley Cup Champion’s play last season as Kane had a down year offensively, registering just 21 goals and 36 assists in 73 games split between the Chicago Blackhawks and New York Rangers.
Johnston believes that the clubs Kane is talking to are the Rangers, Buffalo Sabres, Florida Panthers, and the Detroit Red Wings. Each of those teams makes sense, given Kane’s circumstances. Kane played with the Rangers last year and has a certain level of familiarity with the group. He is from Buffalo, and the Sabres are a team that is on the rise and could certainly use another scoring forward. Florida went to the Stanley Cup finals last year and often seems to be a popular destination for free agents. And finally, the Red Wings acquired one of Kane’s favorite players to play with, Alex DeBrincat.
Kane’s signing could certainly shift the balance in a very strong Eastern Conference if he can return to being even a fraction of the player he once was. He is just two years removed from a 92-point season and was a point-a-game player in 12 of 13 seasons before last year.
The biggest concern with Kane is that the hip resurfacing surgery he had is a tough one to recover from. Nicklas Backstrom has struggled to return from the procedure after having it last year, and Ryan Kesler was never able to return after having it in 2019. Mike Sillinger and Ed Jovanovski are two other players who had the same surgery, and neither was able to return for a significant period, although Jovanovski was able to play 37 games during the 2013-14 season. The surgery is typically for people in their 50s and is not commonly done for people under the age of 40. It is not without success in athletes, though, as tennis star Andy Murray has had the procedure and had a successful return to the court.
I would rather get Travis Konecny to play for Detroit, then take a chance on Kane.
For the cost and term, Kane isn’t really a “chance.” Worst case, he will sell more tickets and apparel. In saying that, Konecny would be a great get for the Wings.
Yeah, let’s hope he only signs for 1 yr. Then go from there.
Kane likely only costs about $2M in cap space for 1 season and then you can negotiate an extension in the offseason. Konecny costs $5.5M this year and next in cap space, has an injury history, and costs trade assets.
Yeah, I guess I gotta push the Bro-mance aside and think more logically. LOL
I know that if an RFA or any player signs a one-year contract the cap hit is increased. For simplicity of numbers, let’s say Kane comes back 60 days after the season started (about Dec 9) and signs a $2 million contract. Also assume a 180 day season. Then his cap hit would be 2,000,000 x 180/120 = 3,000,000. Obviously, if he starts later, the cap hit goes up. Do you know if there’s an exemption if the player was injured?
i think he signs before that, but may not play til Dec 9.
If Kane signed a 1 year 2M deal it would count as 2M for the season but be prorated to the amount of days left in the regular season. So if he signed with 3/4’s of the season left he would count as 1.5M against the cap.
NYR
OK – but why is Kane different from CapFriendly’s interpretation of the CBA? They offer an astonishing extreme case of signing a player after the season starts:
Example:
Brogan Rafferty of the Vancouver Canucks signed a one year ELC on April 2, 2019. The contract has a base salary of $832,500, a signing bonus of $92,500, and there were 4 days remaining in the 186 day season:
Cap hit = $92,500 × 186 / 4 + $832,500
Cap hit: $5,133,750.
William Nylander signed a 6 year, $45,000,000 contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Dec. 1, 2018. The contract has a cap hit of $6,962,366 after the first year, In Nylander’s hold out year of 2018-19, CapFriendly thinks the hit was $10,277,778 for the 54 games he played.
Wheeler is doing well. Let’s get another!
With a very tight post covid salary cap league wide Kane is a huge gamble.
Not if just signed for 1 year