It’s now ‘Showtime’ for Patrick Kane with the Rangers
The New York Rangers went through salary cap hell in order to acquire Patrick Kane at the trade deadline. Once it became clear he would only waive his full no-move clause for Broadway, they simply had to get the deal done.
In order to fit him under the salary cap, the Rangers went into games without a full a lineup for a week and were forced to do so when injuries hit afterwards.
The Blueshirts went 11-5-3 with the savvy veteran in the lineup, but that’s not why GM Chris Drury went out and traded for him.
“We didn’t get Patrick Kane for the last 10 games of the regular season,” Gerard Gallant stated. “I like where he’s at right now. He’s healthy and we’re 100% healthy. I like the makeup of our group. Let the playoffs begin and see where it goes.”
Patrick Kane needs to be ‘Showtime’ in playoffs
The Rangers obtained Kane along with Cooper Zech for Andy Welinski, a conditional second round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, and fourth round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.
It was a small price to pay for the 34 year-old three-time Stanley Cup champion. A price set by his desire to only play for the Blueshirts.
Kane is the team’s oldest skater aside from goaltender Jaroslav Halak (37). The Rangers opted to rest him down the stretch in back-to-back games versus the Tampa Bay Lightning and St. Louis Blues in order to prepare him for a long playoff run.
Since the 2017-18 season, Kane has been in the playoffs only once. That came in 2019-20 during the COVID shorthanded season in the Return to Play qualifiers. The Chicago Blackhawks knocked out the Edmonton Oilers, but fell in the first-round to the Vegas Golden Knights. The skilled winger notched 2 goals and 7 assists in 9 games.
“It’s been awhile,” Kane noted. “The one thing I want to be known as is a playoff performer and a big-game player. It’s been a few years obviously and now I’ve got the chance to play in the playoffs here. Hopefully the team does well and you hope you’re a part of that with some big moments as well.”
This season, Kane has registered 57 points in 73 games mostly with the struggling Blackhawks. In, 19 games with the Blueshirts he’s scored 5 goals and 7 assists for 12.
While those numbers aren’t scaring anybody, he wasn’t brought in to help the Rangers make the playoffs.
For his illustrious postseason career, Kane has recorded 48 goals and 125 points in 136 playoff matches. Five of those goals came in overtime (2 in double OT) with the biggest being in Game 6 of the 2009-10 Stanley Cup Final to win the series. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy (Playoffs MVP) in 2012-13 leading the Hawks in scoring with 19 points.
It’s showtime for the New York Rangers.
Now they need the player nicknamed ‘Showtime’ to take center stage.
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