The Athletic’s Scott Powers, Mark Lazerus and Matthew Fairburn discuss which teams they believe offer free agent forward Patrick Kane the “best fit” this summer…
And in doing so, they discuss only two options: Kane heading “home” to Buffalo to join his hometown Sabres, or Kane returning to the Chicago Blackhawks.
Among their arguments…
Why Kane would be interested in the Sabres
After ending the playoff drought and coming within a goal of the Eastern Conference final, the Sabres now look like a legitimate contender. Kane hasn’t played in the playoffs since the 2022-23 season and hasn’t played in the second round since the 2019-20 season. If he’s looking for one last chance to make a run, the Sabres can offer that for the first time in more than a decade.
Winning is part of it, but Kane would also have a chance to play with some top-end players. Buffalo’s power play has struggled in recent years, and Kane could help in that department. He’s still an elite facilitator, and he’d probably enjoy setting up Tage Thompson, Quinn and some of Buffalo’s other high-end shooters.
Kane would also be going home. The South Buffalo native still has a lot of friends and family in the area. This might be the time to take the opportunity to play in front of family and friends every night as he’s in the final years of his career.
Why Kane would be interested in the Blackhawks
If he’s looking to win, Chicago probably isn’t the best spot for Kane. But if he’s looking for as large a role as possible, he can’t do much better than Chicago. He’d be all but assured a top-six role, likely a top-line role, riding shotgun with one of the best young players in the world. Kane wasn’t far off from being a point-a-game player in his three seasons in Detroit, with 163 points in 189 games. He could get back to that level, or close enough, at least, playing with Bedard. Kane is 24th all-time in points, and has always believed he could play into his 40s. The top 20 is well within reach, but he could go even higher in the right situation.
Then, of course, there’s the sentimental reason. Kane seemed quite happy in Detroit, but he made Chicago his home for 16 seasons, living in the city full-time starting with the 2015-16 season. There will be a statue of him outside the United Center someday, and inside, there are still as many No. 88 jerseys as there are 98s. As a player who thinks a lot about his legacy, the idea of a full-circle moment at the end of his career has to be appealing.
Continued (paywall); all I know is that, as a Detroit person, it seems a little unfair to simply cut the Red Wings out of the picture, as if Kane hasn’t planted any roots here. I understand that the longer he remains on the market, the worse the outlook looks for a return to Detroit, but Kane shares agents with disgruntled Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin in one Pat Brisson…
And I guess I’m holding out hope that Kane may return if the Red Wings are able to receive a commensurate return for Larkin.
