How Kane feels about his future with the Blackhawks

After spending a couple of minutes interviewing Blackhawks forward Tyler Johnson at Fifth Third Arena on Wednesday, I turned around and saw a throng of reporters surrounding defenseman Jarred Tinordi.

Just a few locker stalls away sat Patrick Kane, quietly removing his equipment.

This is a rare sight, so it was the perfect time to approach Kane and see if he'd be willing to talk about his friendship with Jonathan Toews.

How did it start and develop? Have there been rough patches? "Oh, yeah, yeah. Absolutely. 100%"

It's an angle I will expand upon after speaking with Toews.

The rest of the conversation dovetailed into Kane's immediate future, which is in some respects is quite hazy; and in others seems quite clear.

Kane is in the final year of an eight-year deal and can't be traded until he waives his no movement clause. Assuming Kane does so, he can then limit the number of teams he is willing to go to. Throw in salary-cap issues for playoff-bound teams and it's easy to see why the situation is so complicated.

Bottom line: All of us - including Kane and Toews - are staring into the great unknown.

"Both of us truly don't really know what's gonna happen yet," Kane said. "There's still a few conversations to be had."

Kane said he hasn't "really gotten into it that much" with Hawks GM Kyle Davidson, but is speaking with super agent Pat Brisson - who also represents Toews.

"Kind of just talking to him, hearing what teams are interested," Kane said. "But with Kyle we haven't really gotten that far. I'm sure we'll probably dive into that a little bit more (down the road)."

The Hawks have six games remaining before their "off week," which runs from Jan. 29-Feb. 5.

It's around that point - less than a month before the March 3 trade deadline - that Kane expects things to heat up.

"After the break maybe those conversations start getting a little bit deeper," Kane said. "Talking to your agent and talking to Kyle and whoever else.

"For now it's probably play out these last six games, play as well as you can and maybe think about it a little bit more after that."

The guess here is both Kane and Toews will be moved.

Toews spoke recently and said "there's part of me that sees the writing on the wall and sees that this ... organization is trying to hit the reset button, and maybe change for everybody is not such a bad thing. And that goes for myself as well."

Kane sidestepped a question Wednesday about that comment, saying he'd only read it and didn't want to take it out of context.

As for what Kane wants?

"For me, I want to make the most of the back half of my career and have fun playing hockey too," he said. "I think that's a big thing - being able to go out there and showcase your skills and have fun.

"If it's playing here or playing in a great organization somewhere else, that's what it is. I guess we'll see how it all plays out."

While Luke Richardson's door is open if Toews or Kane need advice, the Hawks' coach doesn't expect them to seek him out much.

"I don't really probably have a lot of answers because I was never them," Richardson said. "I was just a hardworking guy. I didn't win a Stanley Cup. I was just more like a Tinordi, (who) played hard and played a long time luckily and just tried to add to the team any way I could. ...

"These guys are in a bit of a different situation, but they have great family that they've been with, supporting them all these years. ... Just hope it works out with the best for both them and the team, whatever way that goes."

But how weird will it be to see them in different sweaters after 15½ seasons in Chicago?

"I'm sure it would be for them, and (for) a lot of the fans and the organization," Richardson said. "That's a long time and a lot of success.

"So if it continues, that's amazing.

"And if it isn't, it was amazing to have them here that long."