The Athletic’s Max Bultman conducted an informal and lighthearted “player poll” with the Red Wings’ players recently, and Patrick Kane earned 11 of 18 votes as to which player might become an NHL general manager one day:
This one was a runaway. Copp got a couple of votes here, too, likely for the same reasons as the coaching answer, but Kane is the player most Red Wings players feel could have a future in a front office.
“He’s been around the league for long enough to know good players and bad players, I’d say,” one teammate said.
“He’s probably one of the smartest players of all time, at least like offensively, IQ wise,” another added. “Hard to argue. I feel like he loves the game and is always watching, paying attention.”
One teammate said something similar about Kane in explaining his vote for “Showtime” as the best coach — but since he also picked him for best GM, we’ll use the answer here: “Just his hockey knowledge. He’s been around, he’s seen every aspect of the game. He thinks the game on a different level. All those reasons. Knows how to win.”
Another added a perhaps underrated component beyond Kane’s knowledge of the game: “I feel like he has a lot of connections.”
But one voter wanted to take the question in a different direction: “Not Benny Chiarot,” they said, “I’ll tell you that.”
Continued (paywall)
