So the various hockey sources are reporting that Patrick Kane, who is 35 years old and coming off hip resurfacing surgery, is going to sign with the Detroit Red Wings, possibly as early as today.
I mean, it could be worse. We heard rumblings from the Chicago Daily Herald’s John Dietz in September that Kane was considering the Red Wings as a spot where he could reunite with Alex DeBrincat, and the Wings remained in the picture ever since.
He’s going to be trying a very difficult thing, especially given that Nicklas Backstrom wasn’t able to successfully return from his hip resurfacing surgery, and, at 35, Kane isn’t going to be quite as dynamic as he once was, even if we’re assuming that the hip holds up.
But I can deal with this. As a Red Wings partisan, obviously, there’s quite a bit of water under the bridge regarding Kane’s time as a Wing-killer with the Chicago Blackhawks, but that’s what happens when you’re trying to build a playoff-worthy team…
And, as a pretend hockey blogger, let’s all admit this:
This Red Wings team definitely needs to add at least one more player who has elite offensive hands (even if his legs aren’t going to be what they used to be) to really remain in the mix for a playoff spot all season long, if not earn a spot outright…
And signing Kane to a one-year, incentive-laden contract (or, Gord forbid, a two-year deal) makes a lot of sense for Steve Yzerman and the Red Wings’ brass, just as it makes sense for Patrick Kane as a no-risk, as-little-pressure-as-possible option.
The Wings have the cap space. The Wings have DeBrincat. The Wings have proven over the last couple of days that the Sweden trip served as something of a hard re-set for a team that’s striving for some consistency under coach Derek Lalonde and the almost half-new roster one quarter of the way into the 2023-2024 season.
So Kane comes to Detroit. If he fits in as someone who can be a primary scorer/assist man, great. If he can fit in as someone who is a secondary scorer in a slightly reduced role, great. If he can fit in as a tertiary scorer with flashes of those fantastic hands and feet, great.
And if he can’t succeed, the Red Wings will have maximized their salary cap space in order to successfully land a player that Buffalo, Toronto and Florida were all looking at signing, giving the Red Wings a *wee bit* more cachet in terms of their ability to attract what this team still desperately needs, and just doesn’t have in the pipeline yet, in elite offensive talent (even if somewhat diminished by age and wear-and-tear).
No harm, no foul, at the very least. And if all goes remotely well, we’ll see flashes of “Showtime” in Detroit, who should at the very least bolster the Wings’ secondary scoring.
Why not, especially with the team trying to establish itself as a legitimately rejuvenated, somewhat consistent outlier for a wild card spot (at the very least) in the East?
Agreed 100% with you George.
Even though the team has won 3 in a row, our goal scoring is still not great and we’ll need to outscore teams with our mediocre defense and goaltending. If Kane and DeBrincat can have the same chemistry they had in Chicago, I definitely see us staying ahead of Buffalo and fighting it out with Tampa/Florida in the division.