Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff posted an subscriber-only story discussing Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko’s motivations for choosing to stay with and sign with Detroit, respectively:
Tarasenko, fresh off a Stanley Cup win with the Florida Panthers, chose to turn down other teams and was in agreement on a two-year pact with the Red Wings. Likewise Kane, after joining Detroit last November, eschewed the chance to depart as a UFA.
Kane took a look around at the potential opportunities he could be finding elsewhere, and came to the determination his best opportunity was to stand pat and stay put.
“I think I was just kind of going over what happened last year and for the team and me personally, I thought it was a good fit, so looking forward to build off that for another year,” Kane said. “You know, obviously, it was a pretty crazy end to the year and (we) just missed the playoffs by a point, so it’ll be nice to kind of start building off that right from training camp. I’m excited about being a part of that and hopefully getting the chance to have a good regular season and playoff hockey again.”
Continued (paywall); Kane and Tarasenko obviously have healthy motivations as to why they’ve joined the Red Wings, and they’re really the first free agents without Michigan ties to suggest that Detroit is a destination for UFAs.
That’s a very good thing for the Red Wings, who’ve still been eschewed by a bunch of targets because they’re still in a rebuilding process.
