Patrick Kane has signed a one-year deal with the Red Wings.
Adam Rotter: Up until last night this wasn’t that big of a deal for the Rangers. They made it clear that the salary cap and giving Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko bigger opportunities was likely going to prevent Kane from returning. But with uncertainty after Kakko’s injury last night, this hits a bit differently.
Best case scenario is that Kakko isn’t out long-term, but if he is then the Rangers will need to patch some things together before attempting to acquire a rental toward the trade deadline. Ottawa being at the bottom of their division could mean the Rangers try and require Vladimir Tarasenko down the line, but there is a lot of time between then and now. In the very short-term, if Kakko is out, I’d assume that Jimmy Vesey moves up to the third line, but it would be interesting to see if Brennan Othmann, playing on his off-side, would also get a look.
With Kane, there is also the risk that he doesn’t end up being much more than he was last year. That hip surgery he had has not led to a lot of success from players who have had it before. That doesn’t mean Kane won’t be successful, but it also means that he brings no guarantee with him.