Blackhawks News: Patrick Kane speaks about possibly coming back

The Chicago Blackhawks traded Patrick Kane to the New York Rangers ahead of the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline. He joined a pretty good squad that believed that they could make a deep run in the postseason.

Well, they didn’t. Kane and the Rangers were defeated by the New Jersey Devils in the first round. It took seven games but New Jersey was clearly the better team by the end of the series. Kane certainly wasn’t himself in the series.

Now, his eight-year 10.5 million dollar contract is up and he is an unrestricted free agent. He is free to sign anywhere that makes sense for that team and himself as an individual. You can imagine that there would be quite a few suitors.

He is going to be 35 years old next season but he can still be an impactful player as long as he is healthy and worrying only about hockey.

Former Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane spoke about a lot on Wednesday.

The Rangers had their break-up day on Wednesday and Kane had some interesting things to say. He did allude to the fact that he might not be feeling 100 percent which is something he wants to get right ahead of next season.

Someone also asked him about the possibility of returning to Chicago to play for the Blackhawks. He didn’t dismiss it but he did make it seem like it wasn’t very possible citing the fact that they are rebuilding so he didn’t even think about it.

That is very interesting. The Blackhawks have a long way to go in their rebuild so it really wouldn’t make sense for Kane to return.

We will find out how far along in the rebuild they are on Monday night during the 2023 NHL Draft Lottery. If the Blackhawks land Connor Bedard, that changes everything. Maybe Kane would enjoy playing on a power-play unit with a guy like that.

Based on his initial comments on Rangers break-up day though, it doesn’t sound like they should anticipate seeing number 88 back at the United Center in anything other than a road sweater.

To be honest, it may hurt but that is a good thing. This Blackhawks team is ready to move forward without looking back. It shouldn’t be that hard for Blackhawks fans to remember that good things can happen when you build the right way.