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Longtime Blackhawks star Patrick Kane joins Rangers in long-awaited trade

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Updated February 28, 2023 at 8:20 p.m. EST|Published February 28, 2023 at 5:44 p.m. EST
After 16 years with the Chicago Blackhawks, Patrick Kane will join the New York Rangers. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
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After 16 seasons in Chicago, Blackhawks star Patrick Kane is on the move. The three-time Stanley Cup winner was traded to the New York Rangers on Tuesday night, with Chicago receiving two draft picks and two defensemen in return.

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The Blackhawks will receive a conditional second-round pick in the 2023 draft and a fourth-round pick in 2025, the team announced. Chicago will handle 50 percent of Kane’s remaining salary. The Arizona Coyotes will take on 25 percent of his salary to facilitate the deal, receiving a third-round draft pick from New York in return. Neither defenseman heading to Chicago in the trade is in the NHL; Andy Welinski plays in the American Hockey League, and Vili Saarijarvi plays in Switzerland. New York also received AHL defenseman Cooper Zech from Chicago.

The long-rumored deal came three days before Friday’s trade deadline and ended weeks of speculation about Kane’s future. The 34-year-old winger was set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, and the Blackhawks, tied for last in the Western Conference at 21-33-5, have stated they are entering a rebuilding period.

“We’re going to look at more of a rebuild here,” General Manager Kyle Davidson told NBC Sports Chicago last March. “There are some things that we really need to fix that are going to take time. We’re not going to put a timeline on it, whether it’s three, five [years] — I don’t have that answer right now. That will be determined as we proceed.”

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Kane, the No. 1 pick in 2007, has played well this season, tallying 16 goals and 29 assists in 54 games. Those numbers add to his robust career totals: In 1,161 games for the Blackhawks, Kane had 446 goals and 779 assists. In addition to the Stanley Cup titles, Kane — a nine-time All-Star Game selection — has won the Hart Trophy as the NHL MVP and the Art Ross Trophy for leading the league in points.

Kane is the second high-profile winger acquired by the Rangers in February. On Feb. 9, the St. Louis Blues shipped Vladimir Tarasenko and defenseman Niko Mikkola to New York for forward Sammy Blais, prospect Hunter Skinner, a conditional first-round pick in 2023 and a fourth-round choice in 2024.

Some believed that deal might table the Kane talks, and the veteran himself had a negative reaction to the news.

“It’s not like the happiest I’ve been to hear about a trade,” Kane later told reporters. “If things were going to happen, that was a team I was definitely looking at. It seems like they kind of filled their void and went ahead and made a deal. So it is what it is.”

The Rangers, currently in third place in the Metropolitan Division, were not done. Kane, a Buffalo native, has a full no-trade clause in his contract, meaning he could choose his next destination. Last week, the Athletic reported Kane was only considering the Rangers in a potential move.

“I’m so thankful for everything the city, the Blackhawks organization, my teammates and the fans have done for me and my family over the last 16 years — the support was constant from day one and Chicago will forever be home for us,” Kane said in a statement released by the Blackhawks. “... I look forward to this next step in my career and will forever be appreciative for all I have received from the Blackhawks and Chicago.”

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