37-year-old Detroit Red Wings forward, Patrick Kane, is looking to become the 50th player in NHL history to reach the 500-goal mark. With all of Kane’s success in his career, as well as his recent success with the Red Wings, why is it taking Kane so long to reach 500 goals, and why is his scoring down so much from previous seasons?
Kane came into the season eight goals away from 500. Now 29 games into his season, he has only found the back of the net six times. The main issue in Kane’s game right now is not his playmaking abilities, or ice time, but rather his ability to have his shots hit the net.
Patrick Kane struggles are not easing up
Kane’s shooting percentage this year sits at a career low, 7.3. His shooting percentage was 12 in 2024-25 and 13.6 in 2023-24. His shot attempts are similar to years past, but one stat is far worse than the previous years': shots that miss the net.
Heading into Monday night's win over the Ottawa Senators, Kane's percentage of unblocked shots that missed the net is at another career-high of 32.5. Kane’s expected percentage in this category is 27.4, meaning that he misses the net 5.1 percent more frequently than he is supposed to. In previous seasons, Kane found himself in the negative percentages, meaning he misses the net less than he is supposed to.
If Kane could get his shots on net more frequently and back down to his expected percentage, then he would have a much better chance at finding more goals. This season, he is on pace for a career-low 14 goals if he were to play every remaining game.
If Kane just put his shots on net five percent more than he is now, his goal scoring will significantly increase, and the magical 500th goal will come quickly.
With injuries hurting Kane’s season so far, he must find a rhythm during this important stretch of games before the Olympic break. Even with the injuries, his playmaking skills remain a major strength. His 2.25 assists per 60 minutes would be the third-highest in his career if he maintains this pace.
If the Red Wings could get more scoring from Kane and add that on to his stellar playmaking skills, Detroit could be in for a major boost on that second line and first power-play unit.