The 5 Teams That Have the Best Trade Packages to Land Blackhawks Winger Patrick Kane

Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane figures to be the biggest name available at this year's NHL trade deadline as the team continues to march forward with its massive rebuild.

Even though the Blackhawks are off to a stronger-than-expected start, there should be little confidence that will continue. Their 5-on-5 possession numbers are among the worst in the league, the roster is short on depth, and they have been carried so far by a surprising performance by their revolving door of goalies.

Kane figures to be on the trade block at some point, given the nature of the team's rebuild and his status as an unrestricted free agent after this season.

If Chicago did not have a long-term use for somebody like Alex DeBrincat, it probably should not be trying to re-sign a soon-to-be 34-year-old Kane to a long-term deal. Sometimes you have to turn the page and start over, even if it means parting with a player that helped you win several championships.

In recent years, the Blackhawks have said goodbye to several core players, whether through trade or free agency. Kane will simply be next in that line.

The question then becomes, what should the Blackhawks expect in return, and which teams might have the assets (and salary cap space) to acquire him?

There are a couple of factors working against the Blackhawks when it comes to assessing his value.

The first is his contract. His $10.5 million salary cap hit for the season is one of the largest in the league, and not every team has the flexibility to bring that on board. However, the Blackhawks can help by retaining up to 50 percent of his salary.

And as a pending unrestricted free agent, Kane would almost certainly be a rental for any team that does get him. While he is still a dynamic offensive player, especially on the power play, he is not quite the same as he was at his peak and has limited value beyond his ability to produce points.

Furthermore, Kane has a complete no-trade clause and holds all the cards in determining where he goes.

It is pretty much the exact scenario the Philadelphia Flyers saw last year with Claude Giroux. That trade ultimately brought them a 2023 third-round pick, a conditional 2024 first-round pick and a younger NHLer in Owen Tippett.

That is probably the baseline the Blackhawks and their fans should be expecting. So which team is best positioned to meet that price? Let's dig in.

The Rangers have been rumored to be in the Kane market for more than a year now, and they would seem to be a strong fit for the 16-year veteran.

After reaching the Eastern Conference Final a year ago, they are obviously in a win-now mode, and they have a lot of the pieces to build a championship-caliber team.

They also have the assets to pull off a trade for somebody like Kane.

The Rangers still have one of the deepest collections of young talent in the league while also owning two first-round draft picks in the 2023 class after acquiring a conditional pick from the Dallas Stars for defenseman Nils Lundkvist.

That pick is top-10 protected, but given how well the Stars have played this season and how strong they look, the probability of that pick being in the top 10 is extraordinarily low.

One of those picks would almost certainly be a starting point for a player like Kane.

From there, the Rangers would probably need to add a young talent, which brings us to Kaapo Kakko.

That might seem like a steep price to pay for a rental, but Kakko's production has not yet taken a huge step forward with the Rangers. He turns 22 In February and has just 65 career points in 174 career games. At some point, a player like that goes from top prospect to suspect, and we might be getting closer to that point with Kakko.

It would also be a very similar return to what the Flyers received for Giroux a year ago. Along with the first-round pick, Tippett was a recent top-10 pick that was scoring at a nearly identical rate to Kakko at the same point in his career.

As of publication, Kakko has averaged a 14-goal and 31-point pace per 82 games for his career. Tippett has averaged an 82-game pace of 14 goals and 30 points.

Add in somebody like Ryan Reaves to offset some salary and have the Blackhawks retain salary, and that seems like a winning package.

The Kings are in a nearly identical situation as the Rangers.

Their rebuilds started at roughly the same time, they have accumulated a deep collection of prospects, and they are a team on the rise, unafraid of making a big move.

Los Angeles has spent the past two years making big splashes in the free agent and trade markets. A year ago, it was Viktor Arvidsson and Phillip Danault. This past offseason, it was Kevin Fiala.

They are well positioned to make a run in the Western Conference, and somebody like Kane could really add some scoring punch and depth to their lineup.

The Kings probably wouldn't be willing to give up somebody like Quinton Byfield, Arthur Kaliyev, Gabriel Vilardi, or Brandt Clarke, but the beauty of their farm system is that even when you remove those four from the table, they still have several enticing options.

Alex Turcotte has not quite developed as expected, but he is still a top prospect with potential. He might be a step below a player like Kakko, but there is definitely some value there. Samuel Fagemo could be another option.

A package centered around those two and a first-round selection should be attractive.

The Oilers were already a team that could have used another impact player to inch closer to a Stanley Cup, but the recent injury to Evander Kane (one that will sideline him for several months) may have just increased that need.

If they want to throw their hat into the ring for Patrick Kane, they definitely have some interesting options.

One name that should be a starting point for the Blackhawks is Jesse Puljujärvi.

Puljujärvi has seemingly been on the outs in Edmonton for a couple of years now, mainly because he has not progressed the way you'd expect from a top-five pick. His inability to take the next step is especially concerning, given the amount of time he has spent next to Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

But not every top-five pick becomes a superstar, and not every useful player will consistently show up on the scoresheet. Puljujärvi may not score a ton, but he is one of the league's best-possession drivers, and his teammates always seem to produce at a higher rate when he is on the ice next to them.

This could be a win-win situation for both sides. The Oilers could move on from Puljujärvi and get a top-line talent that can score, while the Blackhawks would get a very good player that is still under team control beyond this season and still has some potential to develop into more.

Defenseman Philip Broberg, the No. 8 overall pick in the 2019 draft, would also be an intriguing trade chip.

Why not the Devils?

They are one of the hottest teams in the league to start the 2022-23 season and are trying to return to relevance after a decade of being an afterthought.

They are swimming in young talent, and if they believe they have a shot to make the playoffs (which they do), Kane would be an intriguing addition to a lineup that already has Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, Dawson Mercer and Yegor Sharangovich at forward. They also have Ondrej Palat, though he got groin surgery two weeks ago and should return at some point this season.

Prospects like Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec might be off the table for a rental, but they have options beyond them. Alexander Holtz and Nolan Foote, however, might be doable. Combine one of them with a first-round pick, and that is a solid starting point.

The issue here would be salary cap space.

Despite its struggles in recent years, New Jersey still has a pretty large cap number and some huge contracts on the books. But we have seen time and time again how teams can get around that, either through retained salary or clever LTIR use.

Given the Devils' prospect depth, this might also be an opportunity to involve a third team to funnel Kane's contract through for even more salary cap savings.

The Stars should be taken seriously as a contender in the Western Conference.

Their top line is as good as it gets, with Jason Robertson, Joe Pavelski and Roope Hintz dominating every time they are on the ice, and they seem to have hit a home run with Mason Marchment in free agency.

As long as Jake Oettinger is healthy come playoff time, they also have a potential franchise goalie that can steal games and a bonafide No. 1 defenseman in Miro Heiskanen. They have the right star players at the right positions.

They just need a little more scoring punch beyond their top line.

Kane could help fix that.

The Stars do not have an elite prospect pool, but they have intriguing players that could be the centerpiece of a trade.

Defenseman Thomas Harley would probably be at the top of the list, while Wyatt Johnson and Mavrik Bourque are potential top-line players. They also have defenseman Nils Lundqvist, who was recently acquired from the Rangers.

Veteran Denis Gurianov would also be an interesting throw-in to balance some salary and give the Blackhawks a talented player that might just need a fresh start.

Gurianov, one of those young players and a pick would be a price worth paying to get a little closer to a Stanley Cup, and it would be a more than fair return for a rebuilding Blackhawks team.