Kane holding off talks with interested teams until cleared
Published
Free-agent forward Patrick Kane remains on track for a return sometime next month as he continues to recover from hip resurfacing surgery in June.
Who the 34-year-old returns with remains to be seen, with Kane and his agent holding off talks for now, TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun reports.
"I reached out to his agent, Pat Brisson and he said “he’s progressing very well” as to where Kane was," LeBrun said Tuesday on Insider Trading. "Everything is still in the right direction for him to be medically cleared at some point in early-to-mid November.
"Until then, Brisson doesn’t want to start entertaining conversations with teams. They want to get him cleared or close to cleared before they go back and re-engage with teams. About a dozen teams reached out on July 1 to ask to be kept in the loop and several teams have stayed in touch. It’s all on pause until Kane is medically cleared."
TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger reported last month that the Buffalo Sabres were among the teams with interest. The Sabres picked up their first win of the season on Tuesday, improving to 1-2-0 through three games.
Kane had the surgery on June 1 and was given a timeline of four-to-six months for recovery. Brisson released a video of Kane's conditioning routine on Sept. 27 for interested teams to see.
The Buffalo native split last season between the Chicago Blackhawks and the New York Rangers, having been moved at the trade deadline. He posted 21 goals and 57 points over 73 games between the two teams, adding one goal and six points in seven playoff games as the Rangers were eliminated in the first round.
He was drafted first overall by the Blackhawks in the 2007 and has 451 goals and 1,237 points in 1,180 career games split between the Blackhawks and Rangers.
Kane helped the Blackhawks win three Stanley Cups over his time with the team, taking home the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2013.