Bleacher Report’s Lyle Richardson weighs in as to whether teams should “buy” into free agency concepts, or whether they should “sell” them to other teams. Richardson believes that the Red Wings won’t even have a chance to “buy in” to Patrick Kane’s position, and I agree with him:
The top player remaining in this year’s unrestricted free-agent market, Patrick Kane continues to rehab from a June 1 hip resurfacing procedure. He’s expected to be ready to return to action in December. That’s when his agent indicated that the 34-year-old winger would sign with the team that gives him the best chance of winning the Stanley Cup.
Thus, it came as a surprise when the Chicago Daily Herald‘s John Dietz reported to watch for Kane to sign with the Detroit Red Wings. Someone close to Kane told Dietz that the veteran right wing wanted to follow former Chicago teammate Alex DeBrincat to Detroit, depending on whether there was mutual interest from the Wings.
Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen noted that Kane is the type of player respected by Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman. He also pointed out that the Wings, with $5.1 million in salary-cap room, could afford to sign the future Hall of Famer. While Kane isn’t the dominant player he was in his prime, Allen noted he remains a confident scorer.
Nevertheless, Allen was skeptical about a Kane-DeBrincat reunion in Detroit. The rebuilding Red Wings are coming off seven straight seasons without a playoff appearance and aren’t even close to Stanley Cup contention. Yzerman also addressed their need for more scoring by acquiring DeBrincat in July.
Continued; I don’t believe that Kane wants to do anything less than slide into a second or third-line role on a team that’s playoff-bound by the mid-point of the season.
