3-time Stanley Cup champion Patrick Kane returns to Chicago Blackhawks on 2-year contract
It’s showtime once again in the United Center.
Right winger Patrick Kane signed a two-year, $16 million contract with the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday. The all-but-certain Hall of Famer returns to potentially retire where he spent the first 16 years of his career.
The deal holds an $8 million average annual value and runs through the 2027-28 season, after which he will be an unrestricted free agent. Kane has a full no-movement clause in the contract.
“Day in and day out for 16 seasons, Patrick captivated the city of Chicago with his dazzling skill, creating some of the most memorable moments in Blackhawks history as he helped bring our storied franchise back to the pinnacle of our sport,” Blackhawks General Manager Kyle Davidson said in a statement. “He’s shown on countless occasions that he knows what it takes to win at the highest levels.”
Kane, 37, was selected No. 1 in 2007 — a year after the Hawks selected Jonathan Toews No. 3 in 2006. The forward would go on to be a franchise legend, scoring 1,225 points (446 goals, 779 assists) in 1,161 games.
Blackhawks' No. 1 pick Patrick Kane tries on his sweater as he is introduced by general manager Dale Tallon to the media at the United Center on June 25, 2007. (Charles Cherney/Chicago Tribune) After missing the playoffs in the 2007-08 season, the Hawks appeared in the postseason from 2008-2017. They would win their first Stanley Cup in 49 years in 2010 — one clinched in Game 6 with Kane’s overtime goal in Philadelphia — and add two more banners in 2012-13 and 2014-15.
The good times would start to end after the Hawks missed the playoffs in 2017-18 after back-to-back first-round exits. Kane’s team finished under 85 points for the rest of his tenure in Chicago.
After former Hawks general manager Stan Bowman left amid the findings of the Kyle Beach sexual assault investigation in 2021, Davidson took the reins and started a rebuild. The first big steps of the new era were to accept Kane’s trade request and move him to the New York Rangers on Feb. 28, 2023, and forego extending Toews shortly after.
It was a move that shocked Chicago as a whole — Davidson included.
“It doesn’t seem real right now that we traded Patrick Kane,” Davidson said at the time. “We’re looking forward to watching him compete with New York.
“I think it was an impossibly difficult decision for (Kane) — he’s been a Blackhawk for so long, had so many big moments and really grown up in Chicago. That’s not easy to change at this point in your career.”
The grass wasn’t greener at Madison Square Garden and beyond for the 37-year-old. He left the Rangers after a first-round loss to join the Detroit Red Wings, who are currently in the longest playoff drought in the NHL (10 years).
The two sides had mutual interest in signing Kane to another contract, but one — or both — had a change of heart. Kane became an unrestricted free agent on July 1 to ponder his next landing spot.
Hall of Fame defenseman Chris Chelios revealed on July 15 that after speaking with Kane, his final choices were between the Hawks and the Buffalo Sabres. It was a decision between homecomings for the Hawks legend and Buffalo, N.Y., native.
In the end, No. 88 returned to his Hawks roots. The contract signals a different mindset for Davidson, who had brushed off a Kane reunion before.
“He did have a really good year (in Detroit and) I think we’re all really happy to see that… (but) we made some really tough decisions on some longstanding players,” Davidson said at the 2024 NHL combine. “I don’t foresee us going back on that.”
Well, trying times tend to change plans. Kane will be the Hawks’ highest-scoring threat while star center Connor Bedard heals from left shoulder surgery from an injury suffered during a practice in Vancouver, British Columbia, in early July.
Kane has mentioned previously that he sees the skill Bedard has. Now, the two may play side by side upon the 21-year-old’s return.
“(Bedard’s) dangerous every time I’m watching and every time he’s on the ice,” Kane said on Nov. 8. “(He’s) someone that’s going to help that franchise take the next step.”
Bedard is signed to a five-year, $75 million contract extension, and he’ll finally have help on the wing when he returns from injury. Kane joins the winger tandem of Tyler Bertuzzi, Nick Lardis, Roman Kantserov, and more.
Kane — the highest-scoring American-born player in NHL history — has 1,400 points (508 goals, 892 assists) in 1,369 games between the Hawks, Rangers and Red Wings. He’s in the top three in Hawks history in goals, assists, and points.