It is finally over, the battle of will he or won’t he waive his no trade clause has come to an end as Patrick Kane has officially been dealt to the New York Rangers. For me this is a very weird feeling as I believe I have known all along that this was going to be the outcome but there was always part of me that felt he was going to play his entire hall of fame career in Chicago. The idea of him wearing another sweater just leaves a weird taste in your mouth. I am extremely excited to see him reunited with Panarin and lets hope they find their magical connection like it was never separated.
Looking at the trade as a whole, the Hawks retained 50% of his salary and then sent Kane to Arizona, who retained another 50% to bring his cap hit down to 2.625 million. For their part, they picked up a 2025 3rd round pick from the Rangers. The Rangers on top of Kane, also picked up Cooper Zech from the Hawks. Now the part that is the biggest debate, the Hawks return. Signing rights to Vili Saarijarvi, 2023 Conditional 2nd Round Pick (becomes a 2023 1st if the Rangers reach the Conference Final) and a 2025 4th Round Pick.
Now the common answer to this is KD had has hands tied with the full NMC and Kane only giving one team for him to work with. Something I found interesting that was reported in a piece by Laz and Powers is that Kane was growing frustrated with the franchise and their attempts to push him out the door by letting Strome walk and trading away DeBrincat. They said Kane took those moves personally and it made him less inclined to help the Hawks get max value for him and decided that it was Rangers or nothing. If this was truly the plan for KD all along and he was just hoping to get anything for Kane, then mission accomplished.
I brought up a point in the latest episode of my show (links below) that while yes, his hands were tied a bit, I think he still could have put more pressure on the Rangers to get more value. Clearly the Eastern Conference are in the middle of an arms race and this could have been all the leverage KD needed. He could have pointed out the fact every team around is getting better and you already went in by picking up Tarasenko and you wouldn’t have done that if you didn’t think you had a chance to win a cup. Finish the job and go all in with Kane. They need him more than the Hawks do and the Hawks do not have to ask him to waive his NMC. That’s how he could have landed a bit more in this trade but that’s not how things shaped up and I think at the end of the day he just did what was best for Kaner as a thank you for 16 amazing years.
Given the article from Powers and Laz and the statement Kane released which i'll include here if you haven’t seen it yet. I feel like the Kane Era is officially over and there will not be a reunion come July 1st. This is just pure speculation, but it seems like while many assumed that chasing Mikita to be the all-time leader in points was going to be enough to keep him here. I think that the opportunity to play for Stanley Cups is going to be more appealing to him. I get the vibe that he will take a team friendly deal to stay with the Rangers and Panarin. If this truly is the end, he no doubt is considered one the the greatest players to wear the Indian Sweater. He will have finished 3rd in goals (446), 2nd in assists (779) and 2nd in points (1225). He will always be remembered as the player to end the 49 year cup drought and help send this team back to greatness. While it is a shame how this chapter of his career has come to an end, I think I speak for all fans when I say how grateful I am for what he did for this franchise and a heartfelt thank you Kaner and best of luck the rest of the way and see you back at the UC for your jersey retirement.
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