Patrick Kane leaves door open to return to Red Wings

Of all of the options that he had available to him, future Hall of Fame forward and 3-time Stanley Cup winner Patrick Kane ultimately chose to sign with the Detroit Red Wings, a decision that paid off for both him and the team. 

Not only did Kane demonstrate that he can still play at a high level despite being 35 years of age, but that his hip resurfacing surgery went according to plan and that he showed no ill affects from the operation or the nagging ailment that had been bugging him for years.

After scoring 20 goals with 27 assists in the 50 games that he suited up wearing the Winged Wheel, he can become a free agent once the calendar turns to July. Right now, he's not given any indication one way or another of his future plans, but he had nothing but good things to say about the organization. 

"It was a great year, I have nothing but positive things to say about the organization and obviously the opportunity from Steve and Newsy to give me the chance to come and play in the situations I was put it," Kane said today. "I feel like I got a lot of opportunities to play in the top-6 and the power play and play with some great players. It was fun to be around the group and fun to be a Wing and in this organization, and I'll definitely have some memories to last me a lifetime." 

"Obviously I'm a free agent and not under contract, but I'm sure I'll explore the situation here and talk to my agent and go over everything, and see what makes sense.....I guess we'll kind of see what happens and I'm sure my agent and Steve will have those conversations and kind of go from there." 

The Red Wings proved to be the ideal situation for Kane, as he was able to suit up alongside his former Blackhawks teammate in Alex DeBrincat as well as see regular top minutes in even strength and power play situations. 

"Everything is so fresh from the season being done, but I think that coming into this year my decision was based on playing on a good team and where I thought I fit in well," Kane said. "Obviously the comfort of playing with Alex (DeBrincat) again was something I was looking forward to and really enjoyed that as well. But as the season goes on, you realize there's a lot of good players here. I was put in a great situation to succeed and played a lot of minutes with good players, I was really appreciative of that." 

It's understandable that after having played for three teams in the last two years, Kane is looking for some stability in his next deal, but is that something that GM Steve Yzerman would be willing to give him? 

"I think from being in Chicago for so long and going to New York and then coming to Detroit, maybe looking for some stability as far as term," he said. "But I think that the right situation matters too." 

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