For 15 years, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane formed one of the most lethal duos in the NHL.
As part of the Chicago Blackhawks’ modern-day dynasty, Toews and Kane won three Stanley Cup championships, assuring them of an eventual place in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Although time and health have separated them in recent years, Kane and Toews might just decide to end their careers with the same team.
Toews has been out of the NHL since 2022-23, dealing with long-term health issues that limited him to only 53 games that season. But now, at age 37, Toews is intent on making a comeback.
The 36-year-old Kane moved on from the Hawks around the 2023 trade deadline to play with the New York Rangers and the next two seasons with the Detroit Red Wings.
Toews and Kane are now UFAs looking to continue their on-ice careers. Wouldn’t it be something if they picked the same team to sign with this summer?
Maybe that possibility comes in Toronto, where the Maple Leafs are looking for a third-line center like Toews and a veteran scoring winger like Kane.
Maybe it comes with the Red Wings, which are desperate to make the playoffs and could get Kane and fellow former Blackhawks player Alex DeBrincat to help recruit his former Chicago teammate to the Motor City.
Maybe it comes with the Dallas Stars, which are close to being a Cup front-runner and could use the championship pedigree the duo could provide. Or maybe it comes with the Rangers, which intend on having a bounce-back season and could re-recruit Kane while adding Toews to give the Blueshirts first-rate depth.
The possibilities are many, and that’s what’s so intriguing about them right now.
The exciting part – the part that makes them a distinct possibility to be brought in together – is that Toews and Kane many not break the bank on what could be their final NHL contract.
Kane did have a solid season this year with Detroit, posting 21 goals and 59 points while earning $4 million, while Toews’ most recent salary was $10.5 million, when he posted 15 goals and 31 points for Chicago. They’ve become very rich men very early in their lives, and so their main motivation now is likely more about the chance to win another Cup than anything else. So while there may be a bidding war for their services this summer, a team could probably pick them up together for something in the area of a combined $6 million or $7 million.
Adding one of Kane or Toews would certainly help any team, but two of them as a package deal? Well, that could prove to be the piece that elevates a team from a fringe playoff team to a legitimate Cup contender. The line that separates elite teams is thinner than ever, after all.
Who knows – perhaps Kane and Toews go their separate ways. But maybe there’s a GM out there who recognizes an exciting opportunity when they see one and sells both veterans on the value of playing together once again.
You don’t often get the chance to acquire potential Hall of Famers in hockey’s top league, but the chance to acquire two of them in one fell swoop has to be exceedingly tempting.
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