B/R NHL Staff Roundtable: Where Should Patrick Kane Be Traded To?

Patrick Kane in another NHL uniform.

The thought of the future Hall of Famer playing for a team other than the Blackhawks would have seemed inconceivable during the team's Cup runs last decade. But with GM Kyle Davidson deciding to rebuild Chicago's roster and with the 33-year-old Kane having just one year left on his contract, the winger's time in the Windy City may be running short.

Will a contending team give in and provide the assets necessary to facilitate a trade? And which team is the best landing spot for Kane?

We called the B/R NHL Staff together for another roundtable to provide their takes.

Disagree with their opinions? Feel feel to sound off in the comments below!

New York Rangers general manager Chris Drury proved to be a wheeler-dealer leading up to last season's trade deadline, adding Andrew Copp, Frank Vatrano, Justin Braun and Tyler Motte to his lineup. They all played a role in the Rangers reaching the 2022 Eastern Conference Final.

Drury could make a bigger splash at this season's trade deadline by acquiring Patrick Kane.

The Rangers' top three right wingers are Alexis Lafreniere, Kaapo Kakko and Sammy Blais. None of them are considered as a true first-line scorer.

Perhaps this is the season that promising youngsters Lafreniere and Kakko emerge as the scoring stars they were projected to become when the Rangers drafted them. Nevertheless, they lack Kane's offensive abilities, experience and championship pedigree.

Winner of three Stanley Cups with the Blackhawks and playoff MVP in 2013, Kane remains among the NHL's elite right wings. As a postseason rental player, he could become the missing piece of the championship puzzle for the Rangers this season.

With a projected $4.7 million in trade-deadline cap space, the Rangers would need the Blackhawks to retain half of Kane's $10.5 million salary-cap hit for this season. They'd also have to send a salaried player to Chicago to free up sufficient cap room.

The rebuilding Hawks, meanwhile, could seek a return heavy with futures, including at least a first-round pick, a top prospect and a promising NHL player.

It would be a steep price to pay for a rental player like Kane. Still, he could be worth it for a Rangers team seeking to end a 28-year Stanley Cup drought.

- Lyle Richardson

You’re going to hear a lot about how the Buffalo Sabres should be the team to deal for Patrick Kane. He is a Buffalo native and the most successful hockey player to ever come from the city. The Sabres have more than enough cap space to accommodate a move if they want him, and at nearly 33 years old, he would be Buffalo's third-oldest player.

But would they make a trade to bring in the three-time Stanley Cup champion? Signs point to "no."

Sabres GM Kevyn Adams has kept spending to a minimum since he took over in 2020, and he's been savvy enough not to trade prospects or draft picks at will. Considering the type of prospects and how high the picks would need to be to acquire Kane this year, it makes it a virtual non-starter to bring him home this season.

There's also the part about the Sabres not being in the position to go for the Stanley Cup this season. They're still rebuilding, and they're still getting their younger players to grow together while their skills improve. They're also going to have flexible roster space for potential future stars Jack Quinn and JJ Peterka, who are knocking on the door to the NHL loudly. As attractive as going home would be for Kane, now probably isn't the time when he'd want to be there.

Now, if we're talking about next summer when Kane hits free agency…that's a much different story.

- Joe Yerdon

The Buffalo suggestion has a lot of merit.

Kane is from there. And one of the three times the Blackhawks won the Cup with him leading the charge, he brought it back to Western New York to show it to the hometown faithful.

But Kane is after another championship. And with all due respect to the Sabres, they're more than one piece away from legitimate contention.

So the next best thing is somewhere close.

There's no closer NHL franchise to Buffalo than the Toronto Maple Leafs, and it just so happens that the Leafs were a top-four team in the regular season before having the misfortune of drawing two-time defending champ Tampa Bay in the opening playoff round.

A series of early flameouts have the organization in need of a jolt, and it's hard to imagine a bigger one than the addition of a guy with three rings on his fingers and an MVP, a scoring title and a Conn Smythe Trophy on his shelf.

While it's true the Leafs are in some level of salary cap hell right now, it's also true that the Blackhawks are knee-deep in a rebuild and could conceivably retain half of Kane's $10.5 million salary in order to facilitate a deal and guarantee they get something in return before he becomes a free agent next summer.

We can leave Kyle Davidson and Kyle Dubas to work out the details, but in an ideal scenario, Toronto gets its difference-maker and Chicago gets its picks and prospects.

Call it a win-win, NHL 2022-23 style.

- Lyle Fitzsimmons