- Pierre LeBrun reports Patrick Kane is weighing the open market over a Red Wings return
- Agent Pat Brisson confirmed the 37-year-old wants to play another season
- Read below for what Dylan Larkin’s trade request could mean for Kane’s decision
Patrick Kane’s return to Detroit isn’t the sure thing it looked like a month ago.
The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun reported Wednesday that the pending unrestricted free agent is mulling whether to re-sign with the Red Wings or test the open market. Kane definitely wants to play another season, agent Pat Brisson told LeBrun. What’s undetermined is where.
Detroit wants him back and has made that clear, per LeBrun. Kane just hasn’t decided if he wants to come back.
He sounded a lot more settled when the season ended in April. Watch his locker cleanout availability, where he talked up the mutual interest in a return:
The bigger question hanging over Detroit is Dylan Larkin. The captain asked Steve Yzerman for a trade, and his list of destinations has only grown since. If Larkin goes, the Red Wings get smaller in a hurry, and Kane is 37 with no interest in waiting out another retool.
Kane is coming off a one-year deal worth $3 million, with another $4 million available in performance bonuses. He earned plenty of it. He put up 57 points in 67 games, a 0.85 points-per-game clip that kept him among Detroit’s most dangerous forwards.
It’s the same kind of short-term bet he signed two summers ago:
If Kane does hit the market, Buffalo is the city that keeps coming up. He grew up there, the Sabres should have cap room if Alex Tuch walks, and they’re finally a team worth joining again. He has flirted with the idea before.
Free agency opens July 1. Kane has two weeks to decide whether the next chapter stays in Detroit.
