Kane hopes to debut with Red Wings in 7-10 days

NEW YORK -- Patrick Kane is hoping to play his first game with the Detroit Red Wings in 7-10 days.

Kane signed a one-year, $2.75 million contract with the Red Wings on Tuesday and was on the ice with his new team at Madison Square Garden for their morning skate in advance of a 3-2 loss to the New York Rangers on Wednesday.

The three-time Stanley Cup champion with the Chicago Blackhawks was an unrestricted free agent who prior to signing was rehabbing away from the NHL from right hip resurfacing surgery that he had June 1.

"With the way I feel, I feel like I could play tonight, but probably getting back into it, skating with the team a little bit, getting acclimated with the whole new situation and everything, and go from there," Kane said after the morning skate "Hopefully it's a week, 10 days, something like that."

Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said the plan with Kane is to be "cautious and patient" to allow him to get comfortable. There's no exact time frame for when Kane will play, but Lalonde hoping that it will be sometime next week. Detroit is at the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday, home against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday and home against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.

"I think we'll be cautious with it and get a feel on how he is with everything too, but obviously he's eager," Lalonde said.

When Kane plays, he will skate on a line with left wing Alex DeBrincat and potentially center Dylan Larkin, who will not play against the Rangers or the Blackhawks on Thursday because of an undisclosed injury.

Kane played with DeBrincat in Chicago from 2017-22. He said DeBrincat was part of the reason why he chose to sign with the Red Wings. There were other teams that wanted to sign him.

Detroit (12-7-3) is tied with the Toronto Maple Leafs for third in the Atlantic Division with 27 points in 22 games.

"I just thought the fit was good," Kane said about signing with the Red Wings. "That's not to say it wasn't good anywhere else, but I think with a young team that's been playing well as of late I can come in, build my game, not too much pressure on me right away with the success they're having this year.

"Probably the DeBrincat factor had something to do with it too, just being comfortable playing with him not only on the ice but off the ice. Excited to build that chemistry again. We had some really good moments in Chicago. It'll be fun to play with him again."

DeBrincat said he's not expecting his chemistry with Kane to return immediately, but he's confident it will in time, calling it a work in progress.

"We're always talking hockey, always watching games so it makes it easier to see each other's likes and dislikes," DeBrincat said. "That's why we meshed well."

The Red Wings were comfortable signing Kane to a one-year contract because he is coming off the hip surgery.

"I don’t want to call it a gamble, but a worthwhile chance to take here on a player that we think as a ton of upside and has worked really hard to try and come back from this and give it a shot," general manager Steve Yzerman said. "We just discussed the remainder of this season."

Kane, who turned 35 on Nov. 19, said he's had between 60-65 pain free on-ice training sessions since having surgery. He's been in full-contact drills for about the past two months, starting with 1-on-1 drills with former NHL defenseman Cody Goloubef, accelerating to 3-on-3 and eventually 5-on-5.

"A lot of contact," Kane said. "I've taken hits on the hip, a lot of pushing, being up against the boards taking a hit, feeling how that hip is going to feel with it. Nothing has really shown up, so it's been pretty exciting."

Kane was without pain directly after the surgery to the point where he didn't have to be on any pain medication. 

"It's building up the muscles around the area that have had so much atrophy from just years of not really being able to use the right muscle," Kane said. "Building that back up and it's obviously exciting when you get on the ice and you see the progress. You're moving the way you want. There's not really restrictions on the right side. That's one thing I've really noticed, the ability to cross over left over right and the lateral movement in general is back for me. It's exciting."

Kane is confident he'll be able to return to being the type of player he was before his ailing right hip started to prevent him making the same impact he had made for the bulk of his career. He is second among United States-born players with 1,237 NHL points (Mike Modano, 1,374). He was voted one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players at the League's centennial celebration in 2017.

But Kane also knows the history of returning to previous form isn't great. 

Washington Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom had the same resurfacing surgery on his left hip June 17, 2022. He returned Jan. 8 of last season but announced Nov. 1 that he was taking time away from hockey because of "my ongoing injury situation."

Kane said he consulted Backstrom before he had the operation.

"Talking to the doctors, the one thing that got me was this could be something that I could play with for a long time, that I wouldn't have to retire from," Kane said. "That was the big thing for me."

The next step is getting up to NHL speed and used to the way the Red Wings play so he can get into a game and start to prove he can still play at a high level.

"I'm really optimistic about where I can go from here and how long I can play," Kane said.