It’s Worth The Risk For The Red Wings To Sign Patrick Kane
The Detroit Red Wings signed future Hall of Famer Patrick Kane (pictured) on Tuesday to a one-year deal with a $2.75 million Average Annual Value (AAV). Because Kane is signing 1/4 of the way through the season, he will get just over $2 million from the Wings.
Kane is one of the National Hockey League's (NHL) greatest players of the 21st century. He is a nine-time All-Star who has spent just about his entire 16-year NHL career with the Chicago Blackhawks. And he (along with fellow future HOF'er Jonathan Toews) led the Blackhawks to three Stanley Cup titles in 2010, 2013, and 2015.
Kane provides experience, he's a big name, and (if healthy) would give the team more scoring depth on a squad that is looking to make the playoffs in the stacked Eastern Conference.
The one major concern is that he's coming back from major hip surgery that has threatened to end his career. That's where the risk comes into play.
But I believe it's worth the risk to sign him. The Wings have the salary cap room to sign him at that rate. He has played with current Red Wing forward Alex DeBrincat (they were linemates with the Blackhawks). And if Kane went to all the trouble to get major hip surgery, you know that he wants to keep playing and wants to go out on his terms.
The Red Wings are in year 5 of the long rebuild that has been authored by Steve Yzerman. And they have made progress every year since Stevie Y has taken over.
And what if he gets hurt again, or if he's ineffective? Kane's contract is only for the rest of this season, so he'll be off the books on July 1st. This is a very low risk signing. And if it does work? The Red Wings will be in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2016. I think it's worth it to sign a future Hall of Famer, even if there are injury concerns. I like it.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments.