The Chicago Blackhawks' long love affair with forward Patrick Kane ended last year, but if the team had shown a little more interest in him, the current Detroit Red Wings skater would probably still be in town.
At least that's what the 35-year-old veteran told The Athletic.
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“If they had come to me and said, ‘We want you to be a member of the team for life. “Can we find a solution?” he said. “I think it probably would have been difficult to say no. “That's just because of what happened there, the success we had and the relationship with the organization.”
Ultimately, Hawks general manager Kyle Davidson decided that it would be more beneficial for the future of the franchise to trade the man who won three Stanley Cups with his team. As a reminder, Kane was traded from the Blackhawks to the New York Rangers in February 2023, specifically in exchange for a conditional second-round pick and a fourth-round pick.
An enriching experience
However, the winger has no regrets about being given the opportunity for a change of scenery. On the contrary, he thinks it was an enriching experience.
“But I think it was good for me to have new experiences,” Kane said. And even though it didn’t go as well as I had hoped in New York, it was still a great experience for me.”
However, his New York epic only lasted one spring. Kane played 19 times for the Rangers during the regular season and seven times in the playoffs.
After a long recovery from hip surgery last summer, the man drafted first overall by the Blackhawks in 2007 signed with the Detroit Red Wings in November through the end of this season.
In 16 years at Illinois, Kane scored 446 goals and 779 assists for 1,225 points in 1,161 games.