It’s done: Hawks deal Kane to Rangers for 2 draft picks
TEMPE, Ariz. — For the first time since 2007, wing Patrick Kane is no longer a member of the Blackhawks.
Hours before their 4-1 loss Tuesday to the Coyotes, the Hawks dealt Kane to the Rangers — as had been anticipated for the last week — for a conditional second-round draft pick in 2023 and a fourth-round draft pick in 2025.
The second-round pick might become a first-round pick (with top-10 protection) in 2024 if the Rangers advance to the Eastern Conference final. That’s the best Hawks general manager Kyle Davidson could do with Kane wielding the power of his no-trade clause to ensure he went to the Rangers.
‘‘If you look at it from . . . an asset-return standpoint, it probably doesn’t compute,’’ Davidson said. ‘‘But given the circumstances and the situation, we achieved what we wanted, and that was to put Patrick on a team that he wanted to go to.’’
It was an earthshaking move. Kane, arguably the best U.S.-born NHL player of all time, is headed to New York.
There, he not only will reunite with former Hawks linemate Artemi Panarin but also longtime Central Division nemesis Vladimir Tarasenko, whose acquisition by the Rangers earlier in the month seemingly had closed the door on Kane’s favored destination. Kane was surprisingly honest and public about his disappointment at the time.
It turns out he needn’t have worried. The Rangers managed to fit him in, as well, creating arguably the closest thing the NHL has seen to a ‘‘superteam’’ in the salarycap era.
It just took them some time and some inconvenience to do so, playing multiple games short-handed to protect against injuries and accumulating tiny portions of additional cap space each day.
Davidson said the Hawks had been on ‘‘standby’’ since a conversation last weekend in San Jose, California, in which Kane confirmed he would waive his no-trade clause.
‘‘It has been a lot of discussions, a lot of correspondence back and forth with a lot of people and a lot of emotions,’’ Davidson said. ‘‘It doesn’t seem real right now. We traded Patrick Kane. But [I’m] really excited for him to get a chance to play for the Rangers.’’
The Hawks retained 50% of Kane’s salary-cap hit through the end of the season. The Coyotes retained another 25% as a third-party broker, receiving the Rangers’ third-round pick in 2025 as reimbursement for doing so.
Some minor players also were involved in the deal, with the Hawks acquiring American Hockey League defenseman Andy Welinski and Swiss League defenseman Vili Saarijarvi and trading AHL defenseman Cooper Zech.