The Detroit Red Wings are heading into the crucial part of the off-season. With free agency on the horizon, it’s time for the team to figure out the best move for them. Trusting Steve Yzerman is a given, but it might be an off-season when Yzerman wants to make a splash and bring in some new names.
One of the players that may not be super high on many lists, given the recent news, is Patrick Kane. The Detroit Red Wings should give it some thought, at a minimum, to see what he may be able to bring in for the Red Wings this season.
The big news last season was who would land Patrick Kane at the trade deadline. Teams were filing in offers, and ultimately Kane made it clear he wanted to go to a competitor, being traded to the New York Rangers, who would fall quite short of their goals.
Kane had to undergo a hip resurfacing surgery, which will leave him off the ice for 4-to-6 months as he recovers. This would mean the earliest he’s back on the ice will be October, giving him a late start to the season.
It might just scare away a few teams on the free-agent market, meaning the Red Wings should at least do a little check-in.
Detroit Red Wings need to do their due diligence on Patrick Kane.
Listen, it sounds crazy to be checking in on the cost of a 34-year-old forward who will be fresh off of hip surgery, but it’s hard not to think he would be a significant upgrade for the top six. Kane is a perennial competitor and scorer; he’s got some of the best offensive tools in the game and was one of the game’s best at getting it done during the 2010s during the Chicago Blackhawks run.
However, even in the later years of his career, lately, he’s found ways to get the job done and be a producer on an abysmal Blackhawks team. Kane is fresh off of a 2022-23 season where he played in 73 games between the Blackhawks and Rangers (post-trade), where he scored 21 goals and added 36 assists for 57 total points.
Kane may be costly for a 34-year-old, but a shorter-term contact would be intriguing, in my opinion. It would have to be the right price for the Red Wings, but I would not mind Kane being around going into 2023-24.
However, there’s not a ton of hope in Kane wanting to come to a team like the Red Wings, who are not a given to make the playoffs in 2023-24. He wants to compete, and while the Red Wings should be primed to compete, it’s not a given as they are still turning the corner.
Either way, Yzerman should do a check-in to see what Kane might cost and see if it aligns with his plans for the Red Wings this off-season.