Patrick Kane

Poll: Where Will Patrick Kane Sign?

September 4, 2023 at 12:15 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson 19 Comments

When Patrick Kane said he’d be undergoing a hip resurfacing procedure in June, it became clear he wouldn’t sign a new contract anywhere until deep into his recovery, closer to the start of the 2023-24 season. That’s exactly what happened – more than two months into free agency, the three-time Stanley Cup champion remains unsigned but, if you ask him, is ahead of schedule in his return to playing health.

Now, in the dog days of summer, rumors have been ramping up about where the longtime Blackhawks winger might end up. The Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars and New York Islanders were named as potential suitors by The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta last month, while the Chicago Daily Herald’s John Dietz reported yesterday a desire to reunite with former teammate Alex DeBrincat may influence Kane to sign with the emerging Detroit Red Wings – if they come calling, that is. There’s been no reporting to suggest Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman has interest in acquiring Kane.

What remains a complete unknown is what Kane is willing to take in terms of payment on his next deal. He won’t receive anywhere close to his previous $10.5MM AAV, but how low is he willing to go on a one-year deal to join a potential contender? He’s also one year away from being eligible for a 35+ contract, meaning he cannot receive performance bonuses on a contract signed for this season.

The answer to that question could very well determine his options. If he wants something with more significant compensation, Colorado or Detroit will be his two options among the reported potential destinations. The Avs still have around $2MM in cap flexibility as captain Gabriel Landeskog is destined for LTIR, per CapFriendly, while the Red Wings have slightly over $5MM in space remaining. Dallas or New York wouldn’t be able to accommodate much above the league minimum $775K salary unless a corresponding trade is made.

The Buffalo Sabres, Kane’s hometown team, remains a wildcard option. There’s been nothing concrete connecting the two parties throughout the offseason, however – it remains just speculation.

Signing Kane would give Detroit a bonafide core of four top-six wingers with him, DeBrincat, David Perron, and Lucas Raymond, but is Kane still going to be able to handle first-line minutes on a playoff team without the star-studded help he had around him with the New York Rangers post-deadline last season? Given his pre-injury decline and recovery from such a severe procedure, it’s a fair worry to have.

All that said, we ask you, PHR readers: Where do you think Kane will end up when he signs for the 2023-24 season? Vote in our poll below:

Where will Patrick Kane sign?

Detroit Red Wings 30.30% (698 votes)

Other 26.13% (602 votes)

Buffalo Sabres 17.84% (411 votes)

Colorado Avalanche 17.01% (392 votes)

Dallas Stars 4.43% (102 votes)

New York Islanders 4.30% (99 votes)

Total Votes: 2,304

If you can’t access the poll above, click here to vote.

Multiple Teams Showing Interest In Patrick Kane

August 19, 2023 at 5:00 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson 19 Comments

While former Chicago Blackhawks and New York Rangers winger Patrick Kane may be the best UFA left on the market, no one expects him to sign a deal in the coming days. That’s because he’s still recovering from a hip resurfacing procedure he had done in June, which puts him on track to be cleared for game action sometime between October and December.

Speaking on NHL Network earlier this week, The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta gave various updates on the 34-year-old, including three teams that had displayed “significant” interest earlier in the summer: the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars and New York Islanders. Pagnotta also mentioned the Boston Bruins as a potential suitor but to a lesser degree.

Undoubtedly, teams will want to watch him practice before extending him a contract, even if it’s just a one-year pact, as expected. A significant hip procedure for an athlete as late into their career as Kane is no small factor in what his game may look like after he’s recovered. Pagnotta believes there should be clarity on Kane’s health status and a more specific potential return date in “four to five weeks,” which could also be a target date for Kane signing rumors heating up in earnest.

Out of all the suitors Pagnotta mentioned, Colorado has made sense for Kane since the offseason began and still does today. Colorado projects to have four new faces in their middle six next season (Ross Colton, Jonathan Drouin, Ryan Johansen, and Miles Wood), but their scoring depth remains rather thin. Few would argue Kane is anywhere close to his prime at this stage in his career, especially coming off hip surgery, but he could still allow the team to reliably let Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen drive the top two lines separately. Playing alongside MacKinnon could also very well jumpstart Kane’s production to the point where he’s providing rather immense value on what’s sure to be an already affordable contract.

As things stand, Colorado also has the most favorable salary cap situation out of the three major contenders Pagnotta mentioned. They’re projected to have $2.025MM in cap space with captain Gabriel Landeskog on long-term injured reserve, per CapFriendly. Meanwhile, the Stars and Islanders are both between $300K and $500K over the $83.5MM Upper Limit and will need to run a 22-player roster to be compliant, at least to start the season, assuming no further moves are made.

It’s hard to imagine a fit for Kane in Dallas, too. Their top nine is truly stacked, boasting one of the best lines in hockey followed by a combination of players like Jamie Benn, Matt Duchene, Wyatt Johnston, and Tyler Seguin occupying lines 2 and 3. While Kane may be a true upgrade on someone like Evgenii Dadonov, Dallas signed Dadonov to a two-year, $2.25MM AAV extension this offseason. That’s not money usually given to a player slated for a fourth-line role, especially for someone who relies on point production to maintain efficacy.

The Islanders would make much more sense from a roster construction standpoint if they can make the money work. Wingers like Pierre Engvall and Kyle Palmieri are fine middle-six wingers, but they’re not ideal second-line flanks for a team still boasting championship aspirations with Mathew Barzal, Bo Horvat and Ilya Sorokin locked in for the long haul to rather hefty deals.

Regarding Boston, Kane may not be the top-six center they so desperately need, but he’d be a gigantic boon to a middle-six wing group that now looks awfully thin outside of Jake DeBrusk. Boston signed another veteran, James van Riemsdyk, to hopefully add a solid net-front punch, but after posting just 29 points in 61 games last season, expectations shouldn’t be high for the 34-year-old to be a high-end point-producing factor on the second or third line.

What may complicate fitting a contract for Kane under the cap is his lack of eligibility for performance bonuses. He’s still a year away from being eligible for a 35+ contract containing performance bonuses, and he didn’t miss significant time in-season with the hip injury. It removes the option for a team to give Kane a lower cap hit and compensate him more in performance bonuses, allowing them to deal with the after-effects in 2024-25 if they can’t fit the bonuses under their year-end cap hit.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Latest On Patrick Kane’s Free Agency

July 13, 2023 at 7:00 pm CDT | by Ethan Hetu 17 Comments

While most of the top end of the unrestricted free agent market was picked clean by NHL clubs at the start of the new league year, a few top names remain without a contract for next season. While players such as Vladimir Tarasenko, Tomas Tatar, and Matt Dumba are undoubtedly of interest to many teams across the NHL, the name likely to generate the most attention is that of future Hall of Fame forward Patrick Kane.

Although the soon-to-be-35-year-old Chicago Blackhawks legend’s production declined slightly this past season, his 57 points in 66 games not quite matching the 92 in 78 he posted the year before, Kane is still widely regarded as a top offensive creator in the NHL.

A hip injury that nagged him for most of last season and required offseason surgery likely contributed to that decline, and there is hope that Kane can return to his explosive offensive form when he steps onto the ice next season.

The question regarding Kane, then, has been less about what he’ll be when he returns to full health and instead has focused on where he’ll be when he returns to NHL action.

ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski reports as part of his conversation with Kane’s agent, Pat Brisson, that Kane ” isn’t looking to commit to a team in the summer,” and is instead looking to “take his time to recover” this summer while “keeping an eye on the standings during the opening weeks of the season.”

Under this approach, “Kane will select the suitor he feels is the best fit and with the best chance of winning the Stanley Cup” at the point when he’s ready to return to the ice, which could be before December. This would allow Kane to not only have a clearer sense of which teams offer him the best chance of winning his fourth Stanley Cup, it could also allow for Kane to join a team that currently does not have the salary cap space to sign him.

For example, a team could see one of its higher-priced players go down to a long-term injury, resulting in that player getting placed on long-term injured reserve. The resulting salary cap flexibility could allow a team previously unable to afford Kane to add him to their roster.

A team such as the Colorado Avalanche, for example, are a club that could be of interest to Kane but would almost certainly need to place the contract of injured captain Gabriel Landeskog on long-term injured reserve in order to be able to fit a Kane signing.

Given how much more frequent in-season LTIR placements have become, (the reigning Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights had captain Mark Stone on LTIR from early January until the playoffs) that could be the path for Kane to end up on a team he most prefers.

But for that to happen, he has to wait until he’s ready to hit the ice (and until a month or two of NHL games have been played) in order to sign his deal. So while Kane is still the top free agent on the open market, he’s likely to remain a free agent long past the other remaining names have found teams.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Snapshots: Kane, Tatar, Khusnutdinov

July 11, 2023 at 9:01 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 2 Comments

With winger Patrick Kane recovering from hip resurfacing surgery, he isn’t expected to be signing a contract in the foreseeable future. When the time does come for him to sign, ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski relays that the veteran is expected to ink a one-year deal. Kane is coming off a bit of a down season by his standards although he still put up 21 goals and 57 points in 2022-23 and was one of the highest-scoring UFAs. Accordingly, it’s quite possible that he could have landed a multi-year commitment. Instead, he appears to be looking for a one-year pact, one that could allow him to join a contender but he’ll likely be leaving money on the table to do so as he won’t be eligible for performance bonuses on this deal since it will be his age-34 season.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

Todd Reynolds, the agent for UFA winger Tomas Tatar, told Wyshynski in that same column that there has been strong interest in his client so far, even with teams currently being squeezed by the salary cap. The 32-year-old had to wait a little while to sign in his last trip through free agency in 2021, eventually inking a two-year deal with New Jersey. He was relatively productive in that stretch, picking up 35 goals and 43 assists in 158 games, showing he can still hold down a top-four role. Even so, it seems likely that Tatar will have to take a cut on his previous $4.5MM AAV, even if a team is able to clear out a player or two to make room for him on their roster.
Wild prospect Marat Khusnutdinov is heading into the final year of his contract in the KHL and he may not be seeing any AHL time once it’s done. Player development director Brad Bombardir told Joe Smith of The Athletic (subscription link) that organizationally, they feel the 20-year-old is ready to step into Minnesota’s lineup at any point from this point. Khusnutdinov was a second-round pick back in 2020 (37th overall) and has over 100 KHL appearances and 55 points under his belt, showing that he’s capable of producing in the pros. He could be a candidate to sign late in the season with Minnesota depending on how far they and SKA St. Petersburg go in their respective playoffs should they get there.

2023 Free Agency Update

July 9, 2023 at 2:29 pm CDT | by Brennan McClain 6 Comments

Now that a full week has passed since the free agent market opened up on July 1st, there are still quite a few quality players left on the market. Unfortunately for most of these players, the fact that the salary cap only went up to $83.5MM for the 2023-24 season, has severely limited teams from adding more talent to their roster.

There are a few teams, such as the Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, Tampa Bay Lightning, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Vegas Golden Knights that are currently too close to the cap to make any more significant additions; however, there are a number of teams that still have some financial wiggle room. In this list, we will go through some of the top remaining names left on the market organized by position.

Forwards

Patrick Kane – His long-time teammate, Jonathan Toews, is most likely headed towards retirement, but thus far, there has been no indication to suggest that Kane will join him down that path. During the 2021-22 season, Kane continued displaying incredible offensive talent, which has spanned over the last decade, evidenced by his 92 points in 78 games. Unfortunately for Kane, a nagging hip injury seemed to follow him around, as he was only able to muster a total of 35 points in 50 games for the Chicago Blackhawks, only nine of those being goals. As the league grew closer to the trade deadline, speculation grew that Kane may not be moved at all.

To prove the doubters wrong, in his last five games wearing a Blackhawks uniform, Kane scored three goals and seven assists in five games and was promptly moved to the New York Rangers. Needing some time to adjust to a new environment, Kane put up a respectable 12 points in 19 games for the Rangers during the regular season. Even more importantly, Kane did continue his impressive career-long playoff success, scoring six points in seven games for New York.

Vladimir Tarasenko – Now one of Kane’s former teammates with the Rangers, Tarasenko is also suffering from a depressed year according to his standards. Just a season ago, Tarasenko finished with 82 points in 75 games, looking to be setting himself nicely to hit the market this offseason. Much like Kane, Tarasenko’s offensive numbers took a dive, only scoring 10 goals in 38 games for the St.Louis Blues, before he was also traded to New York before the deadline.

In 31 games for the Rangers, Tarasenko did see a slight offensive output improvement, but not by much. In 31 games in New York, he scored eight goals and 13 assists, adding another four points in seven playoff games. Tarasenko had been heavily linked to the Ottawa Senators and Carolina Hurricanes towards the opening of the market, but was so underwhelmed by his offers, that he switched his representation to CAA Hockey.

Tomas Tatar – One of the more interesting names still available in the free agency market, Tatar has made it difficult for teams to gauge exactly what kind of player they are going to get. In the regular season, he is typically good for 20 goals, and anywhere from 25-35 assists. Last season playing for the New Jersey Devils, Tatar scored 20 goals and 28 assists in 82 games, impressively carrying a rating of +41 at season’s end.

Not only does he carry above-average offensive output for the majority of his career, his possession numbers are solid too, evidenced by his career marks of 60.6 CF%. The major problem for Tatar is the completely different player that seems to come out during the playoffs. In 52 career playoff games, Tatar carries a horrid seven goals and six assists, and an even worse -14 rating. This fact about Tatar has likely driven playoff teams away from his camp, and even rebuilding teams as well, as they likely wouldn’t receive much interest for his services at the trade deadline.

Defensemen

Mathew Dumba – One of the focal points to the Minnesota Wild’s defense over the last decade, Dumba has seemingly become a different player after his impressive 2017-18 season. The offensive numbers have taken the biggest hit, only scoring 94 points in the last 209 games wearing a Wild jersey. Things are not all bad though for Dumba, as he regularly played over 20 minutes a game in Minnesota, saw ice time on the penalty kill, and still carries an oiSV% of 90.5.

Because of their cap situation, it is more than likely that Dumba has played his last game for the Wild, and the two most interested teams find themselves well out of the playoff picture for the next couple of seasons. The Arizona Coyotes have reportedly been linked to Dumba, giving him better access to power-play time; and the San Jose Sharks have considered adding him as well, citing Dumba as a possible replacement for Erik Karlsson.

Goaltenders

Martin Jones – The 2023 free agency class was always considered thin, and the goalie market may have been the thinnest of all positions. Most quality names have already signed up to this point, making Jones one of the better options still available.

During the 2022-23 season, Jones had a back-and-forth season. During a stretch in early January for Seattle, Jones produced a record of 7-0-0, carrying a .926 SV% during that stretch. The win streaks that the Kraken were able to achieve with Jones in the net ultimately put the team in the playoffs, but the overall picture of Jones’ year doesn’t look promising. Although finishing with a great record of 27-13-3, Jones finished the year with a .886 SV% and a 2.99 GAA. The underlying numbers don’t bode well for Jones either, as his GSAA finished at -21.4.

Metropolitan Notes: Mayfield, Devils, Kane

July 1, 2023 at 10:07 am CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

While veteran defenseman Scott Mayfield is officially set to hit the open market today, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman notes that one potential team with interest in him already believes he has agreed to terms on a new deal with the Islanders. In recent years, GM Lou Lamoriello has been a proponent of not announcing contracts when they’re agreed upon, waiting until closer to training camp to make them all official. If that is indeed the case here, we might be waiting a while to see what type of raise the 30-year-old will be getting. Mayfield is rated 17th on our Top 50 UFA list following a career year that saw him collect 24 points while logging over 21 minutes a night for the first time.

Free Agent Focus: New York Rangers

June 5, 2023 at 9:17 pm CDT | by Josh Cybulski 4 Comments

Free agency is less than a month away and teams are looking ahead to when it opens. There will be several impact players set to hit the open market in July while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well. We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Rangers.

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Alexis Lafrenière – Just under three years ago the Rangers watched the lottery balls bounce their way as they were fortunate enough to win the sweepstakes for Lafrenière. At the time the 21-year-old looked like a can’t miss first overall pick having been dominant in the QMJHL and the World Juniors. But now just three years later the Rangers are facing quite the dilemma with the young forward. On one hand he is one of their few valuable trade chips, however, given their cap crunch his cap hit will likely give them a functional player on a reasonable contract.

Lafrenière has played a lot of bottom six minutes and hasn’t really seen the offensive opportunities that other first overall picks have had, however he also hasn’t shown the same skill level or skating as some of the other first overall picks before him.

Lafrenière had a career high 39 points this season in 81 games and did a much better job driving play than he had in previous seasons. However, he also enjoyed much more favorable deployment than in previous seasons which leads one to wonder if he will have better numbers in a different role under a new head coach.

Regardless of who is signing his checks next season Lafrenière is likely to be playing under a two- or three-year bridge deal with a cap hit like the $2.1MM that teammate Kaapo Kakko is playing under.

D K’Andre Miller – Miller’s next contract is going to make for a very interesting negotiation. He is the Rangers best left shot defenseman and played at a very high level for the past two seasons including this past year where he posted nine goals and 34 assists in 79 games. While 43 points total isn’t elite for a defenseman, his 38 even strength points are. Miller saw very little powerplay time and still managed to post very strong offensive numbers.

While his offensive numbers are good, he and partner Jacob Trouba went through some long stretches this season where they couldn’t keep the puck out of their own net. While they turned it around, Miller’s defensive struggles could work against him in negotiations. It’ll be interesting to see how the Rangers navigate their negotiation with the 23-year-old St. Paul native. It’s unlikely they will give him the Rasmus Dahlin contract at a cap hit of $6MM, but an average annual value between $4MM and $5.5MM seems very possible.

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

F Patrick Kane – The Rangers acquired the three-time Stanley Cup champion at the trade deadline this past winter and while things didn’t end up the way they’d hoped, they didn’t give up a lot of assets to acquire the player. Kane recently had surgery to resurface his hip and will be ready to play in 4-6 months. He makes for a curious free agent because any team that fancies themselves a contender likely won’t give out a big cap number until they can see skate again after his recovery. If this is the case, Kane could wait until after his recovery to see who the contenders are next season before inking a deal. The issue there for Kane would be that most teams will be close to the cap ceiling by the time the seasons starts. Kane is still a very productive forward (when healthy), this past season he put up 21 goals and 36 assists in 73 games during the regular season and followed it up with a goal and five assists in seven playoff games. If he were healthy Kane would probably be looking at a three-year deal worth around $6MM. But, because of his injury I think he will need to wait and sign a one-year deal closer to the start of the season or in season once he has recovers from his injury.

F Vladimir Tarasenko – Tarasenko arrived from St. Louis to a lot of fanfare in New York but couldn’t help the Rangers get over hump in the Eastern Conference. The 31-year-old put up 18 goals and 32 assists in 69 games split between the Blues and the Rangers and struggled in the playoffs putting up just four points in seven games. The Rangers would probably like to sign Tarasenko to a short-term deal but given their lack of cap space they likely can’t pursue the winger. Tarasenko will be interesting negotiation as he struggled to drive play last season and isn’t the player he once was. He’ll still find work, and a good little pay day, but it won’t be at anything close to the $7.5MM he made on his previous deal.

G Jaroslav Halák – It’s hard to believe that Jaro Halák is still chugging along at the tail end of his NHL career. He has struggled in recent years, but the veteran continues to find work in the NHL on one-year contracts. Halak hasn’t posted a .905 save percentage in any of the past three seasons but has been able to stay slightly above average in expected save percentage. Currently Halák is a good backup option for a team that is looking for average goaltending 20-25 nights of the year. He will likely be able to fetch a one-year contract at around $1MM.

Other UFAs: Niko Mikkola, Tyler Motte

Projected Cap Space

The Rangers emerged from a quick rebuild just a few seasons ago and had plenty of draft capital and a lot of salary cap flexibility. Now just a few years later the Rangers are in a very precarious salary cap situation as they have just $11.8MM in cap space with 14 players signed for next year. While that is a bit alarming, the good news for New York fans is that most of the core is signed for at least the next two years to fairly reasonable contracts. That being said, there are a few deals that general manager Chris Drury would probably like the opportunity to dump should an opening arise.

The club likely won’t have room to extend Kane or Tarasenko without moving out a very good player and given the age of both players they may want to pass on doing so. The Rangers are also two years out from having to give superstar netminder Igor Shesterkin a new deal, one which could potentially eclipse $9MM annually if he can duplicate his 2021-22 season in the next two seasons. With all of that going on, it’s unlikely that there will be big changes this summer on Broadway.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.

Patrick Kane Undergoes Hip Surgery, Out 4-6 Months

June 1, 2023 at 2:37 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson 9 Comments

Pending unrestricted free agent forward Patrick Kane underwent a hip resurfacing procedure today, according to his agent, Pat Brisson. The expected recovery time is four to six months, which will keep Kane out for most of training camp at a minimum.

Per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, doctors are optimistic this won’t impact Kane’s career trajectory. This is the same procedure that Washington Capitals center Nicklas Bäckström underwent last offseason; he had 21 points in 39 games in 2022-23 after returning to play in January.

Kane has been dealing with hip issues for the past few seasons, but their severity evidently increased this season. Surgery was on the table as an option before his trade from the Chicago Blackhawks to the New York Rangers, and he recorded just 57 points, a career-low for him in a full season.

Hip resurfacing is similar to a hip replacement procedure but less invasive. Instead of entire parts of the hip being replaced with artificial components, only the damaged parts of the hip are trimmed away and replaced with a metal shell.

Given Kane’s age and the Rangers’ need to elevate their younger players in the lineup, it seemed rather unlikely the two parties would meet on an extension even without the recovery time from the surgery in the picture. The procedure now throws into question when (or if) a team will sign Kane – it’s not outlandish to predict he’ll still be looking for a home when the puck drops on the 2023-24 regular season.

The 34-year-old admitted early last month that he wasn’t fully healthy during the Rangers’ postseason run and would prioritize his healthy this offseason.

Drafted first overall in 2007, Kane has (assumedly) wrapped up his half-decade-plus-long career in Chicago with 446 goals and 1,225 points in 1,161 games. He had five goals and 12 points in 19 games down the stretch of the 2022-23 season with the Rangers.

Again, this doesn’t seem to be a career-ending procedure for Kane, but with the Rangers looking to maximize their competitiveness next season and Chicago focused on rebuilding, he’ll likely need to complete his recovery before donning a new uniform.

Snapshots: Rangers, Lucic, Hrabal

May 30, 2023 at 6:30 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson 11 Comments

Mark 2023 down as a formative offseason for the New York Rangers, who are looking to stamp out any doubts next season after a disappointing First Round exit against the New Jersey Devils. While they’re already looking for a new head coach after firing Gerard Gallant, general manager Chris Drury has some offseason player personnel decisions to make, too, after going all in at this year’s trade deadline.

In his latest column for The Athletic, Arthur Staple listed forwards Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko, as well as defenseman Niko Mikkola, as the least likely returnees to the Rangers roster in 2023-24. All pending unrestricted free agents, they’ll likely be too rich for the Rangers’ blood, at least in terms of what they’ll offer to the team over the life of their next contracts.

As Staple concurs, Kane’s health is an obvious question mark moving forward, and Mikkola’s cap hit on his next deal will price the Rangers out of what they can afford for a depth defenseman, especially when offensive acumen from the blueline is an area of need on the third pair. Tarasenko is likely a pure cap casualty, with a strong showing down the stretch boosting his value on the open market.

Speaking with CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal, pending Calgary Flames unrestricted free agent Milan Lucic hinted at a potential return to his hometown of Vancouver this offseason. While Calgary hasn’t given any indication of whether they’d like to retain Lucic, the veteran forward likely wouldn’t say no if the Canucks came calling after July 1. Lucic will be 35 by the time next season starts and had just seven goals and 19 points in 77 games with Calgary last season.
Czech goaltender Michael Hrabal, one of the best prospects available in net for the 2023 NHL Draft, has committed to the University of Massachusetts for the 2023-24 season. The 6-foot-6 18-year-old posted a .920 save percentage in five appearances for Czechia at the World Juniors this year, also earning USHL All-Rookie Team honors with the Omaha Lancers (9-13-4, .908 SV%, 31 games played). Hrabal could hear his name called as early as the late first round.

East Injury Notes: Meier, Kane, Drury

May 3, 2023 at 2:56 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson 2 Comments

The New Jersey Devils are entering Game 1 on the road tonight against the Carolina Hurricanes with the status of their main trade deadline acquisition uncertain. Winger Timo Meier is a game-time decision after taking a hard hit from New York Rangers captain Jacob Trouba in the team’s Game 7 win on Monday, per head coach Lindy Ruff.

Meier hasn’t exactly lived up to expectations yet, especially with no points in the team’s series victory over New York. He did have nine goals in 21 games for New Jersey down the stretch, however, and has shown to be a valuable offensive weapon in playoffs past with San Jose. If he’s unable to play, one of Curtis Lazar or Jesper Boqvist will draw into the New Jersey lineup.

Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference:

Now-pending UFA winger Patrick Kane told reporters at the Rangers’ end-of-season availability today that he was never 100 percent healthy after the trade to New York, but praised the team’s training staff for trying to get him there. Kane did not rule out off-season surgery for the lower-body injury that plagued him the entire 2022-23 season. Kane recorded one goal in seven playoff games for the Rangers and posted a career-low 57 points in the regular season (in a full season).
Carolina Hurricanes winger Jack Drury is expected to return from an upper-body injury tonight when they host New Jersey to start their second-round series. Drury, 23, has slotted into Carolina’s top six with injuries to multiple key wingers. He’ll look to register his first point of the playoffs tonight, expected to flank Jordan Staal and Martin Necas on the team’s second line.

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