Kane practices with Rangers for 1st time, feeling more comfortable

GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- Patrick Kane has gone from referring to his new team as "they" a few days ago to calling the New York Rangers "this team" on Tuesday.

When he's comfortable calling the Rangers his team, is when the forward said he will be fully ready to be himself around his new teammates.
He's getting there, and practice Tuesday was a big step in the right direction.
"Sooner rather than later," Kane said. "I understand what you're saying. I even caught myself before the game the other night saying something to the guys, 'This team in here is a great team.' You're right, it is your team now. … I say I want to fit in, but for me I've always been better when I demand the puck, I want the puck and I have the puck more often than others. It's trying to find a balance."
Kane spoke after a near hour-long practice Tuesday, his first with the Rangers since they acquired him in a three-team trade with the Chicago Blackhawks and Arizona Coyotes on Feb. 28.
He has already played in two games -- going without a point and minus-4 in losses to the Ottawa Senators at Madison Square Garden on Thursday and at the Boston Bruins on Saturday -- but he did not have a full team morning skate before either. The Rangers were off Friday, Sunday and Monday.
"It's different being around guys at the practice rink and talking versus meeting guys at the game when you're in a different mindset," captain Jacob Trouba said. "You can interact more, joke around, be funny, get to know people. It's just a different atmosphere at practice versus games and that's all we had before."
The 34-year-old stayed in a hotel Sunday and Monday while looking for a place to live in New York City. He said he's close to finding a new home.
He drove to the Rangers' suburban practice facility by himself for the first time Tuesday. He's getting closer to a sense of normalcy, which isn't exactly easy to do when you've been with one team for 16 seasons only to have that uprooted in a matter of days.
Kane even said his move to the Rangers happened faster than he thought it would.
Because of the Rangers' NHL salary cap situation, Kane thought the trade would happen March 3, which was the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline, and that his debut would be in Boston on Saturday. But the Rangers cleared enough cap space to make the move Feb. 28, allowing Kane to get to New York on Wednesday and play the next night against Ottawa.
"You obviously expect a lot of yourself coming into a good team, a great organization, great players that you're going to be playing with," Kane said. "First couple of games probably could have went a little better, but then you take a step back and look at the whole situation, what's been going on the past couple weeks, 16 years in one place, just getting acclimated to the normalization of a new team. I'm trying to give myself a little bit of a break, but as time goes on here, I have to try to fit in more and more."
Kane said he felt himself deferring more than he'd like in his first two games, moving the puck off his stick instead off demanding that it be on it, which is the game that made him a superstar, three-time Stanley Cup champion and a future Hockey Hall of Famer.
"Trying not to step on anyone's toes, things like that," Kane said. "But I think if I come in here and be myself, play my game, that'll be better. That's why they acquired me in the first place."
That's exactly why the Rangers got Kane, and they did so with the understanding that it wouldn't be a seamless transition for him or the rest of the team, especially with all the moves that had to be made to fit him in under the cap.
In the past week and a half, the Rangers played three games with fewer than the normal 18 skaters dressed, and one with 18 skaters dressed but defenseman Braden Schneider and forward
Ryan Carpenter
did not take a meaningful shift the entire game.
It was all related to getting under the salary cap. But they also had two defensemen, K'Andre Miller (three-game suspension) and Ryan Lindgren (upper body) unavailable.
"It's been a nutty two weeks, put it that way," Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. "A lot of adjustments, but if they asked me to do it over again for the same result that we're going to get I would say do it in a second. It's well worth it to get the team that we've got now."
It felt like they were starting fresh Tuesday after two days off. The Rangers will practice again Wednesday before traveling to play the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Thursday, the first of three road games in four nights.
Kane is excited about what's to come for his team.
"It's going to be important for me to be myself, especially as we get closer to playoffs," he said. "That's the real reason I'm probably here, the playoff experience, playing in those big moments and coming through in those big moments."