DETROIT — It was impossible not to notice, on this year’s Red Wings’ locker cleanout day, the contrast in the tone and tenor of the day’s final two exit interviews.
First, there was David Perron. The veteran winger is set to become a free agent on July 1, but when he spoke Thursday, he used words like “we” and “us” when talking about the direction of the Red Wings moving forward. He may not know exactly what his future holds just yet, but when the subject was raised, he left no ambiguity about his preferences. “There’s no reason, at this point, to think about anywhere else,” he said.
And then there was Patrick Kane.
Kane’s arrival midseason was a jolt into this Red Wings team. He is a rare level of star in the NHL, and even coming off an uncommon hip procedure, he had plenty of “Showtime” magic left in his hands and brain. He scored one of the most memorable goals of the season, an overtime winner in his return to Chicago. By points per game, he was Detroit’s second-leading scorer.
Like Perron, though, Kane’s contract is up, and he can become a free agent on July 1. He doesn’t know his future yet, either. And when Kane entered the room and a reporter joked about whether he had been in the back signing a contract extension, Kane’s response was noticeably delivered in the past tense.
“It was a great year,” Kane said. “I have nothing but positive things to say about the organization, obviously the opportunity from (Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman), and (head coach Derek Lalonde) to give me the chance to come and play, the situations I was put in, I feel like I got a lot of opportunity to play in the top six and power play, and just play with some great players. It was fun to be around the group. It was fun to be a Wing and in this organization. And I’ll definitely have some memories to last me a lifetime.”
Kane did say, when discussing his pending free agency, that he would “explore the situation here,” and see what makes sense. When asked if he expected to hit free agency either way, he answered “it’s hard to say right now. It’s hard to really fully understand the situation. But I guess we’ll kind of see, see what happens. I’m sure my agent and Steve will have those conversations, and kind of go from there.”
That’s not a closed door.
But it also didn’t inspire much confidence that Kane’s year in Detroit would turn into something more.
What will Kane base his decision on? What factors are most important?
“It’s kind of hard to say right now, because everything’s just so fresh, with the season being done and everything,” Kane said. “I think coming into this year, my decision was based on playing on a good team, a team where I thought I fit in well, 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, there’s a lot of good players to play with, and like I said before, was put in a great situation to succeed, and play a lot of minutes and play with some good players. So I was real appreciative of that.
“And I think it will be similar going forward, too. It’s like: How do I fit in with the team? Who would I play with? Things like that. I mean obviously, I think from being in Chicago for so long, and then going to New York, coming to Detroit, maybe looking for, like, a little bit more stability as far as like, term. But I think the right situation matters too.”
Kane’s comment about “term” stands out as the most salient there.
Kane showed this year he can still play at a high level. In 50 games, he had 20 goals and 47 points, and that was with a midseason start and another (unrelated) injury factored in. He said Thursday he thinks he “could play a long time, to be honest with you,” and said he would “hopefully play until 40. Who knows?”
And a player of his stature, no doubt, has earned the right to ask for that kind of stability on his next contract.
But while Yzerman has been willing to concede on term in some cases with free agents — signing Andrew Copp, J.T. Compher and Ben Chiarot to deals of four years or longer as free agents — it stands out as an obvious potential sticking point for a player who will be 36 come November.
The Red Wings already have some big deals to sign this summer. Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider, Yzerman’s first two first-round picks as Detroit’s general manager, just concluded their entry-level contracts and are in line for massive raises this summer. If both sign long-term, it’s possible Detroit could be adding as much as $15 million to their combined cap hits next season.
It’s important to note that we don’t yet know exactly what Yzerman is thinking about this situation. The general manager has not yet met with reporters for his end-of-season news conference. Frankly, if history is an indicator, we won’t know what he’s thinking about Kane’s future in Detroit after that news conference, either.
But Kane has been an important piece of this Detroit team, scoring some big goals in its playoff chase. He finished the season with seven game-winning goals — the most on the team by two, which is even more impressive when remembering he played only 50 games.
If he were to depart, it would leave a clear scoring hole in the Red Wings’ top six — and subtract a significant source of big-game experience and hockey wisdom from the locker room.
“I learned a lot from him,” Raymond said. “Just being around him, being on the ice with him, talking hockey with him — when you get the chance to play with a player like that, you really want to seize it and soak in as much as possible. I mean, he was huge for us, obviously, on the ice, as all of you guys saw. But his presence off the ice was big for our team, and for me as well.”
Will that prove to be a one-year experience for Raymond and the rest of the Red Wings? July 1 is still a long way away.
But the tone and content of Kane’s end-of-season sendoff suggest Detroit has to at least start preparing for that possibility.
“I don’t know what he’s going to do, but we’re hoping he stays here,” DeBrincat said. “I think he’s a big part of this team, and a big part of where we want to go — he’s going to be a big part of that. So, we’ll see. That’s obviously his choice, but we would love him to come back.”
(Photo of Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane: Nic Antaya / Getty Images)
