The Hockey News’s Michael Whitaker asked several Red Wings players how the team will react to this summer’s loss of free agent forward Patrick Kane to his previous employer in the Chicago Blackhawks. Kane was a true “rink rat” in the most positive sense of the term, and he leaves a lasting legacy of hard work and self-improvement impressed upon the Red Wings’ players:
“Unbelievable hockey player, great person, great mentor for a lot of guys in this room,” said J.T. Compher. “We wish him the best, obviously going back to an organization that he means a lot to… he’ll be missed.”
Defenseman Moritz Seider acknowledged that while Kane’s departure was difficult for the Red Wings, he understands why the veteran forward ultimately chose to return to Chicago.
“Hard, but obviously I can’t really blame the guy,” Seider said. “It’s an unreal contract he got offered, and I’m really happy for him. It’s really cool for me personally to see him back in his original colors, but I think he took a lot of time to think about coming back, and it just shows how much this organization means to him, and how much the locker room meant to him. Of course we’re going to miss him, but we’ve got great additions and a really good team.”
Wings coach Todd McLellan also weighed in…
“He’s Patrick Kane,” said coach Todd McLellan. “He is a sure-fire Hall of Famer; he’s a winner. He does things a certain way; he practiced as hard as he could, and he was really good in the locker room. He was a tremendous teammate. That’s why he keeps prolonging his career. Chicago wanted him back, and good for him and good for Chicago to recognize that.”
With McLellan telling Whitaker that the departures of Kane, James van Riemsdyk, Travis Hamonic and David Perron leave a leadership void which must be filled internally:
“That’s a lot of years and a lot of experience that people, players, even coaching staff, leaned on and looked to,” McLellan said. “It’s time for some change and time for Razor (Lucas Raymond), (Alex) DeBrincat, Mo (Moritz Seider), Simon (Edvinsson) – these guys to take more of it on. They’re the veterans now; they’re done being kids. They’re men, and they need to take more of it on. We need to have a group of people pushing that from the level that we’re at right now, plus from underneath. And we hope we’re going to get that from the group.”
