Why The Rangers Had To Trade For Patrick Kane
Showtime Lands On Broadway...
It is official. The worst-kept secret in all of hockey is out of the bag. Patrick Kane is a member of the New York Rangers.
Showtime has finally arrived for his long-awaited performance on Broadway.
While yet to be announced by the organization, it was reported by multiple big-time outlets earlier on Tuesday that the Chicago Blackhawks were sending their franchise icon to The Big Apple.
It has been coming for days, of course.
Kane has been linked to the Rangers for a considerable amount of time now - thanks in large to his own public endorsements of wanting to play in New York - and we’ve known since last week that a deal was likely.
After the multitude of trade logistics and mechanics were ironed out - and there were many in this deal - the Blueshirts have got their guy and now they are truly ready to make a real run at the Stanley Cup this year.
To put it simply; the New York Rangers had to make this trade for Patrick Kane.
Before we get into that, though, let’s just quickly take a look at the details of this trade:
Rangers acquire F Patrick Kane;
Blackhawks get 2023 Conditional Second-Round Pick and 2023 Fourth-Round Pick.
Now, it is important to note that the Conditional Second-Round selection in 2023 will turn into a First Round Pick if the Rangers make the Conference Finals this year. Here’s the kicker though: that pick would be in either 2024 or 2025.
Also important to note is the fact that the Arizona Coyotes are acting as the third team in this trade in order to retain salary. They will receive a Third-Round Pick in 2025 for doing so. The Blackhawks will also retain 50 percent of Kane’s salary.
So, not only did New York acquire a three-time Stanley Cup Champion and a forward that can still produce at a high level, but they didn’t have to give up the farm and they retained their First Round Pick in 2023. That’s important because the 2023 NHL Draft is absolutely deep and loaded with talent.
The Rangers have acquired a player that can help them win now without giving up anything that will hinder their ability to win in the future.
You have to thank Kane for the fact the Blueshirts didn’t have to give up their First Rounder this year or any prospect in the deal. As we explained here, the Blackhawks were painted into a corner by the fact that they knew they had to do right by their franchise icon. Even if that meant leaving better offers on the table.
It just makes this trade even sweeter for New York. And, as we mentioned at the top, this was a swing-for-the-fences move they absolutely, emphatically, without doubt had to make.
While you can make the argument - and it’s a good one - that perhaps this team as it is currently constituted needed more grit and more sandpaper - I still don’t understand why the front office traded the ultra-tough Ryan Reaves who was an absolute spark plug and energizer boost for this team - you need big-time players in order to win during the most important time of the year.
Kane is that player. He was built for the big stage and he’s done nothing but absolutely thrive and flourish in pressure-cooker situations. All he’s done throughout his career is win.
He’s hardly all skill and no substance, either. He’ll play a hard-nosed game when needed to and he’ll also crash the net and do what is necessary. He’s not afraid to get bloodied up a bit in the pursuit of ultimate glory.
He was a vital piece of the dynastic Blackhawks team that won three Stanley Cups in six years. He scored the game-winner in Overtime of Game 6 against the Philadelphia Flyers in 2010 - the goal that paved the way for the rest of the success that would follow.
That invaluable experience of knowing what it takes to win, knowing what it takes to get over the top, and knowing what it takes to reach the mountain top cannot be bought. You can’t put a price on it. That’s exactly why the Toronto Maple Leafs went all out to acquire Ryan O’Reilly, who dragged the St. Louis Blues to a ring in 2018. I explained here why that deal was the perfect one at the perfect time for Toronto.
It is the same for New York and Kane. The veteran boasts as impressive a resume as you can get in the National Hockey League, and he will automatically add an extra dimension to that locker room in that he knows how to reach the promised land. He’ll drive up standards and elevate the play and the desire of others around him.
Postseason hockey is a gruelling war of attrition that requires a hell of a lot of sacrifice, a boatload of commitment and an innate desire to do whatever it takes to cross the finishing line. Kane wears the scars of Playoff hockey proudly every single day and he’ll know what to expect every single night.
Plus; Kane has the innate ability to be able to elevate his game come Playoff time. He has 52 goals and 132 points in 136 career postseason contests. He was Captain Clutch during Chicago’s march to the Stanley Cup in 2014-15, recording 10 goals and 21 points in 23 postseason contests. He was the best player in the entire Playoffs in all three of the Hawks’ championship runs.
When the kitchen is at its hottest, Kane finds a way to deliver.
The Rangers, who shocked many by reaching the Eastern Conference Final last year, were missing a potent weapon on the right wing in their top six. They were devoid of a clear difference maker as they were taught a lesson by the Lightning.
Kane changes all of that.
When the game becomes tighter, when the stakes get higher and when scoring becomes hard to come by, you need someone who can push through all of that.
Kane is that player and he’ll give this talented Rangers team what they’ve been missing come Playoff time.
Ever since Kane was drafted with the No. 1 overall Pick in the 2007 NHL Draft by the Hawks, all he’s done is produce. And produce at a very high-end level. He’s a Hart Trophy winner, a Calder Trophy winner, a Conn Smythe Trophy winner, a four-time All-Star and he’s registered 1,225 points (446 G, 779 A) in 1,161 career regular-season games. He’s currently the third-highest leading scorer among U.S. born players, behind Phil Housley in second and Mike Modano, who sits atop the list with 1,374 points.
Then there’s the Artemi Panarin factor. This trade reunites Kane and Panarin who were so electric on a line together during their time with the Blackhawks. Panarin posted 30 goals and 47 assists for 77 points in 80 games during his rookie year in 2015-16 with Kane as his excellent partner in-crime, and he followed that up with 31 goals and 43 assists for 74 points in 82 games the following year.
When they were together, magic followed. Pure, blissful, irresistible magic.
In their first year together, Kane recorded a career-high 46 goals and a point total of 106, which still ranks as the second-highest of his career to this day.
With Kane and Panarin back on a line together, with the dependable and gritty Vincent Trocheck as the center, the Rangers now boast one of the most potent and stacked top-six forward groups in the NHL with Kane, Panarin, Trocheck, Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad and Vladimir Tarasenko - another pre-Trade Deadline addition.
It also adds balance to the rest of the lineup with The Kid Line providing a dollop of skill and secondary scoring from the bottom-six, while the fourth-line now looks a lot more formidable with Jimmy Vesey, Barclay Goodrow and Tyler Motte.
If Kane and Panarin can wreak the same sort of destruction as they did during their Chicago days, then the Rangers should be a real fun team to watch down the stretch. Not only that, but they are going to need an added offensive punch given how ridiculously stacked the Eastern Conference is. The New Jersey Devils got one of the best players available at the Deadline in Timo Meier, the Boston Bruins loaded up, the Tampa Bay Lightning added more depth and grit, and the Toronto Maple Leafs have made a plethora of smart moves. The New York Islanders have improved too and may not be done yet.
Given how tough the competition is and how much of a buzz saw the Stanley Cup Playoffs will be, the Rangers are going to need to adopt an added edge in order to just survive. Let alone advance. And Kane may be the missing piece they were long searching for.
If Kane can do what he has built a career on and produce in the postseason during the biggest moments, if Panarin can get a timely boost from being reunited with his old running mate, if Tarasenko can find his game, if Zibanejad and Kreider can take advantage of not having all of the pressure heaped on their shoulders, if Adam Fox can continue to be a rock star, if Jacob Trouba can continue to lead by example, if Igor Shesterkin can play at a Vezina Trophy level then maybe, just maybe, this could be the year for the Rangers.
Of course, this trade, as is the case with all deals of this magnitude, doesn’t come without risk. Kane is no longer at the peak of his powers. He’s older, he’s been battling with a long-standing hip problem that may require surgery in the offseason and, aside from the seven goals in four game heater that he went on prior to this deal being made, Kane largely struggled with the Blackhawks this season with 16 goals and 29 assists for 45 points in 54 games.
With that being said, Kane was stuck on a Chicago team that was stripped for parts and in the midst of a long and ugly teardown. Surrounded by a clear lack of talent with the front office there clearly tanking for another generational talent in Connor Bedard, who is the home-run No. 1 Pick in this year’s Draft, you can’t blame Kane for not being at his productive best.
Now in a place where he’s clearly longed to play, on a legit contender and playing with elite talent, it is feasible to suggest that Kane could benefit from an immediate bump and he may well go on a tear with his new team. While he may not be exactly the player he was, age doesn’t destroy a wicked release or a unique ability to be able to put the puck in the perfect spot for his teammates.
If healthy, and if put in the best situation to succeed, Kane will do just that in The Big Apple.
Showtime was born to take Broadway by storm after all.
Kane is effectively a hired gun for the Rangers. This ownership group, this front office, this entire organization is desperate to secure a first Stanley Cup since 1993. They’ve won just two rings in total since 1940. For a franchise as iconic as the Rangers, in a market as big as New York, that just isn’t going to cut it.
So giving up a couple of picks for a proven postseason performer in Kane was well worth the risk. And it is a complete home run if he helps deliver a championship.
What happens after that is anyone’s guess. Kane is an unrestricted free agent and, due to the fact that the Rangers will be strapped for cash this coming offseason, it is likely the 34-year-old will get a bigger and better offer to sign elsewhere.
But that can wait.
The Blueshirts will worry about that later.
After all, tomorrow is never promised and all the Rangers will be worried about right now is maximizing the glut of talent they have and go win a Cup.
Patrick Kane helps make that goal a little bit more achievable, which is why he would have been worth any asking price. The fact the Rangers didn’t have to give up their cherished 2023 First Round Pick makes it even better.
The Rangers are built to win right now. Their window to compete is right now and big-time trades like this one are exactly what good executives do when they are in touching distance of glory.
The New York Rangers absolutely had to trade for Patrick Kane.
Now they have, let the fun begin.