Livescore
The Patrick Kane era in Chicago has come to a close and “Showtime” is headed for the Big Apple.
The Rangers and Blackhawks have reportedly worked out a trade to send the star winger to New York in exchange for two draft picks. The Rangers have long been reported as a destination of interest for Kane and ultimately, it was the only team he would waive his full no-trade clause for.
Adding Kane gives the Rangers an incredible top-six of Kane, Vladimir Tarasenko, Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider and Vincent Trocheck. Tarasenko was added a few weeks ago in a trade with the Blues.
It provides an opportunity for Kane to add a fourth Stanley Cup to his resume, as the Rangers are one of the top teams in a deep Eastern Conference. There is also the potential of reuniting Kane with Panarin, as the two played on the same line together for two seasons in Chicago from 2015-2017.
MORE: Tracking the latest NHL 2023 trade deadline rumors
The Sporting News hands out grades to the Rangers and Blackhawks for the Kane trade.
Patrick Kane trade grades
- Rangers receive: F Patrick Kane
- Blackhawks receive: 2023 conditional 2nd-round pick, 2023 4th-round pick
Rangers: A-
The packages for Tanner Jeannot and Jake McCabe/Sam Lafferty were both more expensive than the one the Rangers sent the Blackhawks. That’s a pretty good indication of where this trade grades for them.
New York essentially got one of the best passers and stick handlers in the game for peanuts. Kane’s no-trade clause really complicated things for Chicago and general manager Chris Drury took advantage of that.
Spoiler alert: this isn’t Kane in his prime, though. Kane’s production has dipped significantly this season. He’s on pace for his worst points-per-game rate (0.80) since 2011-12 and the first time he doesn’t finish a season with as many points as games played since 2017-18.
Is he likely going to produce more with much better players around him? Absolutely. Which is why there is such a large upside to this deal.
The bigger concern is that Kane doesn’t provide defense. Like, none at all. He’s the kind of player who you sacrifice on defense because he is so talented on offense.
But now those kinds of players are starting to pile up for the Rangers. The team already had an all-offense skater in Panarin. They added another in Tarasenko and a third in Kane. All three are expected to play in the top six, with two of those on the same line.
It’s going to put a lot more pressure on the Rangers’ top defensive pairings and might limit the offense generated from the back end.
Blackhawks: D+
These kinds of trades are nearly impossible to grade for the club sending away the player. You can’t assess it by simply looking at it in a black-and-white way.
The easiest way to evaluate the Kane deal is to look at similar trades. The no-brainer choice is the Claude Giroux deal from last year’s deadline. The Flyers captain had a full no-trade clause (like Kane), wanted to only go to one team (like Kane), and had a massive cap hit that had to fit in some way (like Kane).
Ultimately, the Flyers traded him to the Panthers for forward Owen Tippett, a conditional 2024 1st-round pick and a 2023 3rd-round pick. Giroux had more value at the 2022 deadline than Kane did this year, so it’s not surprising to see he yielded a better return.
However, the Blackhawks got no players or prospects back in the deal, and are holding out hope that the second-round pick becomes a first. The condition on it is that if the Rangers win two rounds and make it to the Eastern Conference Final, it becomes a first. However, it won’t be until 2024 or 2025.
That’s not at all the deal that was expected to come to fruition when Kane trade talks began nearly a year ago. Again, it’s hard to fault general manager Kyle Davidson when his hands were tied. But this return is greatly disappointing.
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