Chicago Blackhawks veteran Patrick Kane could be on the move as the trade deadline approaches, but it now seems like the New York Rangers won’t be a likely destination.
The Rangers acquired Vladimir Tarasenko in a trade with the St. Louis Blues this past week. With New York acquiring a top-tier winger as they hope to make a run for the Stanley Cup, acquiring Kane seems unnecessary.
According to ESPN’s Emily Kaplan, New York was interested in Kane, but the asking price from the Blackhawks was higher than that from the Blues, and the Rangers were concerned about Kane having a lingering hip injury.
The winger thinks that the injury concerns aren’t as serious as they have been made out to be.
“I’m not really sure what the story is out there, to be honest with you,” Kane said. “I think I feel better than I did last year, and I had a pretty good season last year. So it’s just one of those things, I think maybe the story leaks out, and it piles up a little bit.”
Kane was asked about the trade after practice on Friday, and the Blackhawk admitted that he wasn’t excited to see that trade go through.
“It’s not, like, the happiest I’ve been to hear about a trade,” Kane said. “If things were going to happen, that was a team I was definitely looking at. It seems like they kind of filled their void and went ahead and made a deal. It is what it is.”
The 34-year-old will be a free agent at the end of the 2022-23 season, and with Chicago struggling, his days with the organization appear to be numbered. The Blackhawks are at the bottom of the Western Conference; the time to cash in on Kane is now.
The veteran is having a solid 2022-23 campaign with nine goals and 26 assists in 47 games played. Kane would be the perfect addition for a team looking for that final piece to make themselves Stanley Cup contenders.
It will be a few weeks before Kane knows his fate. The trade deadline is March 3, and a potential move would require him to waive his no-movement clause. Even though Kane will surely want to do what is best for his career and get himself on a winning team, the Chicago veteran doesn’t want to leave the Blackhawks in a state of disrepair after he is gone.
“Obviously, you want to do right by the franchise, and the organization here has been amazing to me and given me so much. So you definitely want what’s best for both sides,” he said.
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