The Detroit Red Wings will be faced with a tough decision when we reach the NHL trade deadline. Steve Yzerman hit a home run when he was able to land Patrick Kane, who is considered to be one of, if not the best American hockey player of all-time, in Detroit on a one-year deal. Although I think many fans didn’t know what to expect, I’m not sure they expected Kane to be as good as he has been since his Red Wings debut. The 35-year-old NHL veteran is a free agent after this season, which means Detroit can either trade Kane and get a valuable return for a veteran playing at a high level, or they can re-sign Kane and try to build around him and some of the other pieces around him.
Kane was initially supposed to be eased back into the action as he was expected to be a healthy scratch after every couple of games, but injuries forced Kane to stay in the lineup, and despite coming off of major hip surgery, he has been nothing short of incredible with the Red Wings. Kane has played in 15 games, and his points almost match his games played this season. Kane has six goals and eight assists for 14 points. Shootout goals don’t count on the stat sheet, but Patrick Kane has two game-winning walkoff goals in a shootout in his short Red Wings career. His most recent game-winning shootout goal came in the early morning hours of a game that started Thursday night against the LA Kings.
A Lucas Raymond shootout goal and an Alex Lyon shutout in the shootout set up Patrick Kane to get the game-winner. The way Kane is playing, it’s hard to imagine the team moving on from him, but it’s a very real possibility at the trade deadline. The million-dollar question is: Trade or Keep Kane?
Why The Detroit Red Wings Should Keep Patrick Kane
As mentioned earlier, Patrick Kane is one of the greatest American players in the history of the sport, and he is still playing at a high level. Although his age is something that the Red Wings will take into consideration before deciding to pursue a trade partner, I think the best decision they can make is to try and re-sign Patrick Kane.
Kane is a player the Red Wings can build around with their strong core of players coming through the ranks. If the Red Wings can get Kane for about three more years, they can build a contender around their top line. Since Patrick Kane joined the Red Wings, they have had a legitimate NHL top line with Alex DeBrincat, Dylan Larkin, and Patrick Kane on offense. The Kane/DeBrincat connection is still as strong as ever, and the recently named all-star Alex DeBrincat is going to be in Detroit for a few more years at least Dylan Larkin is going nowhere anytime soon as he signed an eight-year extension last season. The Red Wings can maintain this top line for a few years while Lucas Raymond continues to develop into a great hockey player and the Wings’ deep list of forward prospects make their way to the NHL. For the Wings to trade Kane, they would have to get the perfect offer. I see more value in extending Kane than I do trading him when he’s playing this well. Perhaps if the Wings get a package with some defensive or goalie help, they would consider it as defense, and goaltending are their biggest weakness. But I see Detroit keeping Kane and extending him so that he can continue to represent the Winged Wheel for the next few years.
ITR 43: It's Winning Time – Inside The Rink
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