Patrick Kane Wants One More NHL Season. The Red Wings Want Him Back. So Why the Holdup?

Patrick Kane is 37, has 19 NHL seasons under his belt, and just put together a solid 57-point season in Detroit. So when his agent Pat Brisson told Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic that Kane definitely wants to play another year, it wasn’t exactly a shocker.

What’s less clear: where that season will happen.

According to Brisson, that’s all he’d share for now. Which leaves a pretty big question hanging over Detroit’s summer planning.

The Red Wings, for their part, have made it known they want Kane back. They’ve been clear about that. But Kane is still deciding. He’s weighing whether to re-sign in Detroit or test the open market. And considering the Wings haven’t made the playoffs since 2016, you can see why he might be tempted to look around.

Kane was drafted first overall by Chicago in 2007. He spent 15-plus seasons there, won three Stanley Cups, and earned a reputation as one of the most dangerous offensive players of his generation. Then came the 2022-23 trade to the Rangers, followed by hip surgery in the summer of 2023. He signed a one-year deal with Detroit that November, joined the team midseason, and played 50 games that year.

This past season, his first full year with the Wings, he played 67 games. Scored 20 goals. Added 37 assists. That’s 0.85 points per game. Not bad for a guy who had a hip rebuilt not that long ago.

But here’s the awkward part: Kane hasn’t played a single playoff game since joining the Red Wings. Neither have most of his teammates. The franchise hasn’t seen the postseason in almost a decade. That drought already pushed captain Dylan Larkin to request a trade earlier this year. And now it might push Kane out the door too.

The Wings have young talent. They’ve got pieces. But they’re stuck in that awful middle ground where you’re not bad enough to land a top draft pick and not good enough to make the playoffs. Kane knows time is running out on his own career. He’s not chasing regular-season stats at this point. He wants another shot at the Cup.

So here’s the question nobody’s answered yet: does Kane believe Detroit can get him there? Or does he look for a team that’s already knocking on the door?

Right now, the answer is apparently still in his head. The Red Wings are waiting. So is the rest of the league.