Last month, The Athletic’s Scott Powers reported the Blackhawks were having internal discussions about trying to bring back franchise fixture Patrick Kane, who’s set to hit the open market this summer after a one-year deal with the Red Wings. However, speaking with reporters today at the pre-draft scouting combine, general manager Kyle Davidson said he “doesn’t foresee us going back on that” regarding a Kane reunion (via Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times).
Kane, 35, had 47 points in 50 games to close out the season in Detroit after recovering from offseason hip resurfacing surgery. It was a promising step for the future Hall-of-Famer, considering hip resurfacing procedures generally signal the end of a player’s career.
After showing he can still hang around in a top-six role, he’ll look to land a raise on his previous $2.75MM cap hit this summer, but it appears it won’t be with Chicago. The 2007 first-overall pick had 1,225 points in 1,161 games there to begin his career, amassing three Stanley Cups.
Elsewhere from Chi-town:
- To the surprise of no one, Davidson confirmed today the team isn’t shopping their second overall pick in this month’s draft (via NBC Sports’ Charlie Roumeliotis). The team is reportedly leaning toward selecting Belarusian defenseman Artyom Levshunov with the choice, their second top-two pick in the past two years.
- While preparing for the draft, Davidson said he’s still trying to retain some of their pending UFAs (via Pope). As Pope points out, depth winger Joey Anderson is likely a member of that group, although he’s an RFA that only needs a qualifying offer. Anderson, 25, had five goals and 17 points in 55 games for the Hawks this year. Their notable pending UFAs include Colin Blackwell, Tyler Johnson and Jarred Tinordi.
Im sure Levshunov will be a good defender but Demidov is forsure the better player, could be as good as Cellebrini, With a #2 pick typically you pick the better player over position they play, Levshunov at #2 doesn’t make much sense tbh
There are questions about Russia releasing Demidov to play in USA.
Nothing I’ve seen suggests Demidov is anywhere close to what Celebrini I’d going to be. He hasn’t even played much at the KHL level, where as Levshunov is getting regularly compared to the likes of Aaron Eckblad on the conservative end. The Hawks ha e a ton of potential top 6 wingers, but very few prospects for a top 2 pairing Dman. Maybe Del Maestro can get there with his work ethic, but that’s about it. Drafting Levshunov, or honestly Silayev, would be the route the Hawks should good. I actually think Silayev will be the best defender of this group.
Im pretty sure the entire roster hated Tyler Johnson because he got paid to be horrendous and Tinordi is the worst player I’ve ever seen, Davidson better make this team at least watchable because without Bedard on the ice last year putrid would be generous
Sign Kane – no brainer!
Yea this org has been willing to make it rain for Corey Perry and Nick Foligno and Andreas Athanasiou, you can absolutely find a way to make Kane work for a 1 or 2 year deal. He isn’t resetting the market at his age, still gives solid contributions, and might be able to mentor the next wave. You also can afford to rest him about 40% of the season, giving him about 50 games or so to keep him healthy for a playoff push, should it come to that. It’s not like they have a defined top 6 right now either. See if guys like Hayes, Ludwinski etc can make that leap without tossing them fully in the fire like they did with Reichel, who clearly looked overwhelmed last year.