Connor Bedard Hopes Patrick Kane Will Return To Blackhawks

Two teams remain in the running for future Hall-of-Fame winger Patrick Kane. Now 37 years old, Kane’s next contract will likely be his last – and he hopes to spend it on a homecoming. That could be with the Buffalo Sabres, the club that Kane grew up watching from upstate New York, or it could be with the Chicago Blackhawks, where his career blossomed en route to three Stanley Cup wins. Current Blackhawks star Connor Bedard has made it clear that he is hoping for the latter. In a press scrum captured by Scott Powers of The Athletic, the freshly-signed Bedard said:

I hope so… I can’t imagine his first game back at the UC, the reaction he’d get and how much juice that would bring not only to our team but our fans as well… You talk about the legacy aspect of it, but as a team, it would make us a way better team. He’s still an amazing player.

Closing out his career in Chicago would only feel right for Kane. He became a superstar almost immediately after Chicago drafted him with the first-overall pick in 2007. Kane scored 21 goals and 72 points in his rookie year, in tandem with fellow rookie and premier playmaker Jonathan Toews. Together, the two formed one of the most complete duos in NHL history – with Kane offering sharp goal-scoring and high-finesse skills while Toews served as the setup man and two-way star. Their presence helped Chicago strongarm the Western Conference for much of the 2010s, with a dominance that peaked with Stanley Cup wins in 2010, 2013, and 2015.

Kane was a routine point-per-game scorer in that stretch, though he routinely missed 15-to-20 games each season due to injury. He played a full season in 2015-16 and made the most of his prime year, finishing second in the NHL with 46 goals and first in the league with 106 points. Kane crossed the century mark again three seasons later, netting 44 goals and 110 points in 81 games of the 2018-19 season. His pair of 100-point seasons stand as Kane’s career-years, though he crossed 70 points in 10 seasons and 80 points in six seasons.

Kane has remained a cornerstone of his team’s offense into his late-30s. He scored 41 assists and 57 points in just 67 games with the Detroit Red Wings last season. That production continued Kane’s run of strong scoring in Detroit. He has scored 163 points in 189 games with the Red Wings, or an average of 71 points per 82 games, through three seasons.

As has become well-known across the hockey world, Kane’s offense comes with major tradeoffs on defense. He has recorded 2.77 expected goals-against per 60 minutes of ice time since joining the Red Wings in 2023. That mark ranks as the 56th-worst in the NHL in that span, on a list that ends with Bedard himself. The Blackhawks don’t need to kneecap their defense any further after allowing the fifth-most goals in the NHL last season. Then again, Kane’s presence could bolster the top-six, while allowing young prospects like Anton Frondell and Roman Kantserov the chance to ease into their roles. Kane’s defensive deficiencies won’t be unfamiliar to the Blackhawks – but the value he could bring with a return to the United Center, in terms of mentorship and fan service, could outweigh the negatives in a year where the Hawks likely won’t push for playoff contention.