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Former Chicago Blackhawks and New York Rangers forward Patrick Kane is one of the top players available on the free-agent market this summer, but the star winger is in no rush to sign a deal.
Kane is not expected to sign with a team until the 2023-24 season begins, according to ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski. Kane’s agent, Pat Brisson, told ESPN he is “very comfortable” waiting things out.
“There’s no rush. This is one I’m very comfortable with. I’m very calm,” Brisson said. “You could offer me a one-year deal or a two-year deal right now at $7 million or so. I don’t even know if I want to entertain it, because it’s not what he needs. We’ll see, at the right time, how he feels, where he’s at, and then we’ll take it from there.”
Kane, who is an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career, underwent a hip resurfacing procedure on June 1 with an expected recovery timeline of four to six months.
Brisson told ESPN he believes the winger will be ready to play by December, at which point he will select the destination “he feels is the best fit and with the best chance of winning the Stanley Cup,” per Wyshynski.
Brisson added: “Let’s make sure he is 100 percent and that he feels great. Then we can decide where he’s going to go. There’s going to be plenty of teams doing good, plenty of teams doing bad. There are going to be teams using [long-term injured reserve].
“We’ll pick where we want to go. I don’t think too many teams will turn him down.”
The Blackhawks selected Kane with the No. 1 pick in the 2007 draft and he spent the first 15 and a half seasons of his career in Chicago, helping the franchise capture three Stanley Cup titles, before being moved to the Rangers at the 2022-23 season’s trade deadline.
Kane, who is widely considered one of the best American-born players in NHL history, was always considered a player that could potentially retire with the Blackhawks, but his trade to New York came as part of a massive rebuilding effort in Chicago that resulted in the franchise landing the No. 1 pick in the 2023 draft, which it used on elite prospect Connor Bedard.
In 1,161 games with the Blackhawks, Kane notched 446 goals and 779 assists for 1,225 points.
The 34-year-old appeared in 19 games for the Rangers last season, amassing five goals and seven assists for 12 points. In seven postseason games against the New Jersey Devils in the first round of the playoffs, he notched one goal and five assists for six points.
When Kane is finally healthy enough to get back on the ice, it’s going to be interesting to see what kind of contract he signs and where he will end up. Brisson told ESPN that teams have already called with interest in the veteran, and that likely won’t change come winter.
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