Patrick Kane: Detroit Red Wings were 'in my heart' as he decided on new team

NEW YORK — Patrick Kane and Steve Yzerman described the situation from different angles, arriving at the same conclusion: This is just a terrific opportunity.

It was the day after Kane had signed a one-year, $2.75 million deal to join the Detroit Red Wings. He was with the team in New York, as a spectator, happily employed after sorting through multiple offers for his services. Hearing him explain why the Wings won out should warm the hearts of fans everywhere.

"There are teams that are interested and you kind of keep going back and forth in your mind about teams you want to play for," Kane said. "Throughout the whole thing, Detroit was in the back of my mind, Detroit was — it almost felt like it was in my heart. When I was thinking about something else, I would always come back to Detroit.

"I felt like I needed to be in a market where hockey is popular and you can get the city and crowd excited. Hockey is a big thing in Detroit. They’re in a playoff spot now and they’ve been playing really well as of late and I’d like to jump in there and help them make the playoffs."

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Adding an aging superstar during the season is the sort of move the Wings used to make to strengthen their chances of a long playoff run. Now they're making it in the hopes of advancing to the playoffs.

"Maybe a month ago or so as he’s getting closer, that’s when we started thinking about, boy, we could use a player like that, that type of hockey player," Yzerman said. "If he’s healthy, he can really help us a lot. Even if he’s what he was last year, that’s not too bad, and we expect him to be better than what he was last year — closer to the player he was two years ago. Then he could really help us."

That is certainly what Kane aims to do. It will be a challenge, everyone acknowledges that — Kane is 35 and coming off invasive hip surgery, but he was cleared for contact two months ago and estimates he just needs a few practices with his teammates, then he could be ready to debut as soon as next week.

"I feel a lot better compared to last year," he said. "Just the ability to put weight on the right leg and also just my lateral movement is so much better. That was a struggle for me last year.

"It’ll be fun when I get in to join them and try to give them what I can and hopefully help us make the playoffs."

Kane is from Buffalo and played 15-plus of his 16 NHL seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks, but has strong ties to his new city.

"I moved to Detroit when I was a freshman in high school," he said. "I played for Honeybaked, I played in Ann Arbor for a couple years, so I’m pretty familiar with the Detroit area. Always enjoyed it. I lived with Pat Verbeek when I was playing for Honeybaked and he was working the Red Wings games, so we’d be able to go to some games and stuff like that.

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"I just thought it was an unbelievable atmosphere at the Joe and the Joe was actually my favorite road rink to play at. So I just always loved the organization and always thought it was a top-notch organization. I always felt like it was in the back of my mind. If I was thinking about another team, Detroit was the next team popping up."

Kane found himself looking for a new team after playing out an eight-year, $84 million contract in a New York Rangers uniform. The procedure he had in June — hip resurfacing — comes with a high degree of uncertainty for career continuance, but the short term and reasonable salary of the contract is akin to a no-risk gamble.

"We think it’s a worthwhile chance to take on a player we think has a ton of upside and has worked really hard to try to come back from this and give it a shot," Yzerman said.

While his production last season dipped to 57 points, as recently as 2021-22, Kane was a 92-point player. Thus it was that when Kane signaled he was interested in the Wings, how could Yzerman do anything but leap at the chance to add such a dynamic player to a team that looks poised to end a seven-year playoff drought.

"I have some reason to believe that we’re going to hang around if we’re healthy," Yzerman said. "If we can stay healthy and if our goaltending holds up, I think we can compete for a playoff spot.

"We think we have a chance to be in the mix and with a healthy Patrick Kane, that gives us a better chance."

Kane projects to strengthen the top-six forward group (maybe top nine to start; missing training camp is hard at any age) and power play. At some point, coach Derek Lalonde is bound to reunite Kane with Alex DeBrincat, given the chemistry they had during their five seasons together with the Blackhawks.

"We thinks it gives us a chance to be a better hockey club," Yzerman said. "We’re kind of intrigued. Everybody wants to see how Patrick Kane is going to do."

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: Patrick Kane picked Detroit Red Wings because they were 'in my heart'