One of the most significant additions the Detroit Red Wings have made in recent years came towards the end of November 2023. This was when Patrick Kane, the longtime Chicago Blackhawk and three-time Stanley Cup champion, decided to sign a one-year contract to join the Red Wings after recovering from controversial hip surgery.
Since then, Kane has become something of a modern-day Chris Chelios, another longtime Blackhawks that eventually joined the Red Wings and spent years in Detroit. Kane is about to finish his third season with the Red Wings, and all indications are that he does not intend to call it a career quite yet.
At 37 years of age, Kane is one of the oldest players on the Red Wings’ roster, and that can be a precarious spot to be in for a team that is trending younger. Given his pedigree and his continued contributions to the team, however, he stands out as one of the organization’s more interesting decisions they’ll need to make this offseason.
A lot of the chatter coming out of Detroit right now pertains to the Red Wings’ horrible month of March where they went 5-7-2 and saw their playoff odds drop by around 60 percent. These struggles also came at a time where head coach Todd McLellan has called out some of his players for being “jerseys” and not contributing enough to the team’s efforts.
Related: Red Wings Notebook: Gibson, “Jerseys” & More
To his credit, Kane has been one of the team’s most productive players during this stretch. Since the start of March, he has six goals and 19 points in 17 games. Looking at the entire season, he has never gone more than four games without registering a point.
He currently sits at 15 goals and 52 points in 62 games while averaging the lowest time on-ice of his career (17:42). Along with Alex DeBrincat and Andrew Copp, Kane’s line has been a constant positive for Detroit; together they’ve outshot their opponents 238-201 at five-on-five and outscored them 27-13.
While Kane’s current production rate is the lowest of his career, he is still finding a way to create chances on a consistent basis – an absolute necessity for a Red Wings team that ranks 22nd in the NHL in goals-for per game. With almost 1,500 NHL games under his belt (regular season and playoff) his wealth of experience has been a welcome addition to Detroit’s locker room as well.
Just like Chelios before him, Kane has been a natural fit in Detroit. The city has embraced him, and he’s always quick to mention how honored he is to wear the winged wheel whenever he gets the chance. Surely this is a fit between player and city that can last until the player calls it a career, right?
If there is anything we’ve learned from this season, it’s that a wave of youth is absolutely on its way to Detroit. Much was made of their three rookies that made the opening night lineup (Emmitt Finnie, Axel Sandin-Pellikka and Michael Brandsegg-Nygård), and the Red Wings also welcomed Nate Danielson and Carter Mazur into the lineup at different times this season.
There is also forward Amadeus Lombardi and defenseman William Wallinder, both of whom will become waiver-eligible beginning next season. Needless to say, the Red Wings are positioned to welcome another wave of youth next season, and that’s not accounting for any players that may force the organization’s hand like Finnie did this season.
If you assume everyone already under contract for next season returns, they fully graduate Danielson and Brandsegg-Nygård, and they make room for Lombardi, that leaves them with one open roster spot and around $19 million in cap space. That is more than enough to re-sign Kane, but then the roster is locked in; it leaves no room for a significant addition to the team’s top six, which is probably going to be the top item on the team’s wish list this summer.
We’re assuming that every player currently under contract will return in this scenario, but that’s far from a given. In fact, it’s starting to feel like a foregone conclusion that the deck will be reshuffled in Detroit as the team tries to purge themselves of the “jerseys” McLellan referred to. Because of this, it is possible that the Red Wings’ 2026-27 roster isn’t as locked in as it currently might seem.
But then the question surrounds Kane’s fit in the Red Wings’ lineup, especially as the organization’s young players push for time in the top six.
In all three of his seasons in Detroit, he has been practically stapled to the second line, often on the opposite wing of DeBrincat, his former teammate with the Blackhawks. Together, they might have the best chemistry of any two Red Wing forwards, both on and off the ice. To some extent it feels like as long as DeBrincat is a Red Wing, so too will Kane.
But there is no doubt that the highest-scoring American forward in NHL history is seeing a decline in his game. It shouldn’t be a surprise that Kane isn’t as good at 37 years of age as he was at 27 but given his lack of impact anywhere outside of the offensive zone, his productivity is directly tied to how long he can remain in the NHL.
Basically, the Red Wings have been able to justify Kane’s place on the second line to this point in their time together. However, there have been times this season where that has come into question, and it’s only going to get harder as his productivity declines and the organization’s young players continue to progress.
This then begs the question: is there a spot for Kane in the lineup outside of the top six, and would he even be open to that kind of role?
Maybe the best question is this: do the Red Wings want Kane to play his last NHL game in their uniform? If that is the case, then it’s up to the organization and the player to have open communication about how much hockey he has left in him, and how that fits in with the organization’s long-term plans.
It stands to reason that Kane is invested in Detroit’s future too; after all, a player like him only signs with a team like the Red Wings in the first place if he believes in the team’s future. If he has truly embraced being a mentor for the organization’s young players, then maybe he’ll be open to a decreased role in Detroit.
Kane ultimately needs to decide what is important to him in the twilight of his career: winning games or putting up points. If it’s points, the only teams that will have room for him in their top six are teams that won’t be expected to win a lot of games next season. If it’s winning games, then he’ll need to accept where the regression of his game places him in a competitive NHL lineup.
All of this is moot, however, if the Red Wings ultimately decide that they’re ready to move on from Kane. While there aren’t any indications that this is the direction the organization is leaning, it’s easy to see how they may reach that conclusion when you start doing roster math.
All of this is on the backburner for now as Kane and the Red Wings aim to end the organization’s almost decade-long playoff drought. Whether they are successful or not, a big decision awaits both parties this summer.
Chelios spent 10 years in Detroit from 1999 to 2009 and has since become a beloved member of the Red Wings’ alumni group. If Kane re-signs to make it four years in Detroit, he will be well on his way to doing the same. A big decision awaits the Red Wings and Kane this summer….
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