Hawks' Kane frustrated with lack of production this season
Patrick Kane is frustrated.
Frustrated with where the Blackhawks sit in the standings. Frustrated with his team's inability to string together some victories. And most of all - frustrated that he's not producing at a rate commensurate to his superstar abilities.
"Not very good," Kane said when asked to evaluate his play of late. "Definitely things aren't really working like they have in the past. Just have to make a few changes.
"Obviously I need to bring more to the team and be able to help this team out. I guess you could say I'm not doing my job right now."
Kane's raw numbers - 10 goals and 17 assists in 29 games - certainly aren't bad. He's on pace for 28 goals and 48 assists.
It's just when you stack those numbers up against his last two seasons - a 46-goal, 106-point MVP campaign in 2015-16 and an impressive 34-goal, 89-point season in 2016-17 - they definitely fall short. He has 5 goals in the last 19 games and just 4 against 18 playoff-caliber teams.
So what's wrong?
For one Artemi Panarin, Kane's good friend and former wing man, is now in Columbus, where he's racked up 7 goals and 18 assists for the first-place Blue Jackets.
Kane's wing men this season have been Ryan Hartman, Brandon Saad and Nick Schmaltz, with Schmaltz getting the bulk of the playing time lately. They have worked well together at times, but Schmaltz still seems unsure of when to shoot and when to pass.
"When you're that age - especially if he's worried about deferring to me or (Artem) Anisimov - sometimes you just go with your gut instinct," Kane said. "If you have the shot, shoot it. If you feel like you can make a pass, make the pass. But we don't want to feel like he has to force feed anyone out there."
Having said that, Kane admits he might start demanding the puck more.
"Sometimes I might be out there waiting for it to come to me," he said. "It always seems like I'm at my best when I'm demanding it and forcing people to give it to me. Then when I get it, try to be in motion and moving."
Said coach Joel Quenneville: "Him having the puck more makes us a dangerous team. Finding a way to get it to him a little more may help that. Because when he has it there's nobody better."
The Hawks' dreadful power play is the other thing holding Kane's numbers back. No team has had more PP chances (120) than the Hawks, but they have converted on just 19. They've been especially horrid of late, going 2-for-26 in the last six games.
"We have these great entries and we get the puck set up, then we get the shot we want and - boom - it's down the ice," Kane said. "Sometimes you're out there and it's almost like a bag skate. You're going up and down the ice so many times. It shouldn't be that way on the power play."
Few NHL players watch more games than Kane, and he's almost envious of how teams like the Lightning, Penguins, Predators, Jets and Capitals operate with the man advantage.
"If you watch different teams like Tampa - everything just seems so easy," Kane said. "They know where guys are. Every guy who gets the puck has a couple plays that he can make, and it just makes it easy on everyone.
"(We) need more screens in front of the net. That's one of the things we did so well in the past when we had a good power play. It seemed like the net-front guy was huge.
"We're looking to improve on it every day and looking to find solutions. It's a work in progress."
As are the Hawks right now.
But if Kane begins to produce the way he knows he can, all of his frustrations - and the team's - will certainly melt away.
• Follow John on Twitter @johndietzdh
By the numbers
<b>Leading goal scorers</b>1. Alex Ovechkin, Wash. 21
2. Nikita Kucherov, TB 19
3. John Tavares, NYI 17
3. Sean Monahan, Calg. 17
5. Anders Lee, NYI 16
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T. 54 Patrick Kane, HAWKS 10
* Stats through Friday
<b>Leading goal scorers from 2015-17</b>1. Alex Ovechkin, Wash. 83
2. Patrick Kane, HAWKS 80
2. Sidney Crosby, Pitt. 80
4. Vlad. Tarasenko, St.L 79
5. Brad Marchand, Bos. 76