When the Detroit Red Wings inked Patrick Kane to a one-year deal in November of 2023, there were significant questions about whether or not the then-35-year-old would be an impact player. He was coming off of a hip resurfacing procedure, and his comeback was more or less unprecedented.
Jump forward three years, and it's difficult to imagine the Red Wings' top-six forward group without him.
Kane's creativity and playmaking stand out on a near-nightly basis, and the possibility of losing him to free agency this summer looms large over the organization. One could argue that it looms larger than it should for a team that now has the longest playoff drought in the NHL, but that is a conversation for another time.
Today, we're going to break down a handful of possible solutions should Kane and the Red Wings not be able to come to terms on a new deal. Based on what the Buffalo, New York native said during his exit interview, he is interested in donning the Winged Wheel again in 2026-27. And it'd make all the sense in the world for the Red Wings to bring Kane back.
Yet it's a healthy thought exercise to try and figure out where General Manager Steve Yzerman could pivot to, should "Showtime" end up taking his talents elsewhere this summer.
Multiple young, internal replacement options for Kane exist in Detroit
To be blunt: the Red Wings don't have a player in the system who matches Kane's skillset. He is arguably the best American hockey player in NHL history, and what he brings to the ice on his best nights is wholly unique to him. Moreover, Yzerman and co. have seemingly gone out of their way to not draft skill-first forwards over the last several drafts, instead opting for 200-foot players with high motors and a ton of compete.
It is in those presumed puck hounds where the Red Wings could manage to replace Kane in the aggregate. Detroit has one of the best prospect groups in the NHL, and many of those key players gained a ton of valuable experience during an outstanding 51-16-4-1 campaign with the Grand Rapids Griffins.
In 2026-27, any of Carter Bear, Nate Danielson or Michael Brandsegg-Nygard could be counted on to help replace Kane in the top six and on the power play. Yet none of those three players have the same kind of offensive punch as Kane does. A lack of even-strength scoring has held Detroit back in recent seasons, and there may not be a ton of help coming down the prospect pipeline.
Bear could evolve into an outstanding play driver for Detroit, but expecting the 2025 13th-overall pick to replace Kane outright isn't reasonable. That would leave the Red Wings hoping that some combination of these three, plus steps forward from Carter Mazur and Marco Kasper would ease the loss of Kane.
Looking at it through that lens, freeing up more time for those young players might be in the best interest of the Red Wings. But if all those top-end prospects can't replace a wing (great as he's been throughout his career) entering his age-38 season, Detroit is cooked anyway.
Internal growth isn't the only way through a Kane-less future for the Red Wings, however.
Red Wings could get aggressive with free agents, RFAs
The idea of the Red Wings trying to replace Kane with free agents probably has fans sweating bullets. Inarguably, the biggest weakness of Yzerman's front office team has been their professional scouting. The class of 2026 is also one of the weakest free agent groups in history, so the competition for the small group of difference makers available will be fierce.
Would it behoove the Red Wings to overextend and overpay Alex Tuch? Would prying Evgeni Malkin away from the Pittsburgh Penguins be enough to end the playoff drought? Is this roster a Mats Zuccarello away from catching up with the Buffalo Sabres and Montreal Canadiens? Probably not, in all three cases. Yet they are worth considering if Kane ends up bolting for a better shot at a Stanley Cup as his career winds down.
Where things get interesting is with the class of restricted free agents. It is a tool that is very rarely used in the NHL, but desperate times call for desperate measures. The Red Wings could let Kane walk without issue if they managed to secure the rights to a player like Jason Robertson or Pavel Dorofeyev. Both the Dallas Stars and Vegas Golden Knights have cap issues to deal with, and Yzerman could exploit those problems to land a significant top-six upgrade.
This feels like a front office that is still very old school, so it's difficult to imagine Yzerman taking a swing at either forward via an offer sheet. But if every effort isn't being made to improve the Red Wings roster this summer, then questions will continue to swirl about whether or not this leadership group should remain in place in Detroit.
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