How Alex DeBrincat helped sell Patrick Kane on Detroit Red Wings

While Steve Yzerman and Derek Lalonde had a Zoom call with Patrick Kane, Alex DeBrincat kept up with him via phone and text.

It is what would be expected among longtime friends, but their communication increased recently as the Detroit Red Wings emerged as the frontrunner to land the services of Kane, a 35-year-old former 40-goal scorer coming off invasive hip surgery.

The Wings announced Tuesday evening that he had been signed to a one-year deal worth $2.75 million. It's believed the contract will not be official until Thursday, leaving the Wings room to open up a roster spot for Kane.

The No. 1 pick in the 2007 draft has 451 goals and 1,237 points over the course of his career. He and DeBrincat were teammates with the Chicago Blackhawks from 2017-22.

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"I feel like l’ve been keeping up with him all year, seeing how he’s doing," DeBrincat said Tuesday "I think it’s more important that he’s feeling well and rejuvenated. I know he’s missing hockey. It’s good to see him closer to returning."

The procedure Kane had involved dislocating the upper end of the thighbone, trimming it, capping it and removing cartilage before putting it back in place. Washington's Nicklas Backstrom underwent the same procedure and ended up aborting his comeback after a month or so. The Wings naturally hope Kane will fare better.

"I think he’s been working hard. If any guy can come back from that surgery, it’s him," DeBrincat said. "He’s kind of a hockey nerd and thinks hockey 24-7. It’s good to see him closer to returning. He’s been missing the game quite a bit."

Players are ready to welcome him as a teammate.

"He's still the player that he has been his whole career," Robby Fabbri said. "It definitely would help us in a lot of ways."

Daniel Sprong, ready to give up the No. 88 so Kane can keep the number he has made his during a 16-season career, called the expected arrival, "pretty cool. I remember watching him and he’s an unbelievable player, unbelievable career. We’re excited to have him."

Kane became an unrestricted free agent this summer after closing out his eight-year, $84-million contract in uniform for the New York Rangers after last season's trade-deadline deal.

Lalonde shed some light on how the talks with Kane progressed, with a key "meeting" taking place during the Global Series earlier this month in Stockholm.

"We were in the process like everyone else," Lalonde said. "Patty probably talked to eght-to-10 teams and we were one of them. It was a pretty simple conversation — we talked about what we’re trying to do.

"I enjoyed talking with Pat because he was smart — he wanted to know about our structure, he wanted to know about our systems. So basic communication was just like the other eight-to-10 teams. We had a Zoom while we were over in Europe and Steve has kind of handled it from there."

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The Wings had an advantage in DeBrincat, who was able to give Kane more information on what it is like joining the Wings, as he did himself this past offseason.

"I just kind of gave him my experiences on how the organization is, how we’re treated here, the depth of our team," DeBrincat said. "I feel like we have a really good group here, so I think it’s just been kind of giving him my experiences here so far and kind of feeling him out and seeing what he was looking for."

Kane could potentially strengthen the Wings' offense, contributing both five-on-five and on the power play. Given he has had not had a training camp, and has not played hockey since May 1, that's a challenge at any age, especially for a player in his mid-30s. But, Kane's game is smooth moves, not a grind — and his smarts haven't softened.

"His hockey IQ is pretty high above a lot of other people’s," DeBrincat said. "The way he’s able to slow the game down and make the game come to him, he’s a guy the other team is worried about. He can draw a couple guys in and move that puck and I think it’s something that I kind of had to learn to play with. He’s not a guy that’s going to make maybe the first play he sees, he’s going to hold off and then usually something better opens. His hockey IQ is just off the charts and I think it was fun to play with him."

If all goes well, the two could be line mates again soon.

"We’ve been friends for a while and had some chemistry on the ice, so it should be fun," DeBrincat said.

Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her @helenestjames.

Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from  Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: How Alex DeBrincat helped sell Patrick Kane on Detroit Red Wings