From The Silky Mitten State: Do the Red Wings suffer from forcing plays into Patrick Kane's hands?
From The Silky Mitten State: Do the Red Wings suffer from forcing plays into Patrick Kane's hands?
It's not hard to understand why, if he were on the ice with you, you'd want to send a pass over to Patrick Kane.
Kane is arguably the best American hockey player of all time, he's undeniably one of the most clutch players of the 21st century, and he recently picked up his 800th career assist. And, despite having to rediscover his form after major offseason surgery upon arriving in Detroit, he's been just shy of a point-a-game player with the Red Wings: 24 games played with nine goals and 14 assists for 23 points.
However, there is some evidence to suggest that, at certain moments, Kane's teammates may become overly deferential to his talent and resume. This has been especially evident on the power play, where on both zone entries and in-zone sequences, it seems there is almost a tacit understanding that the puck needs to go straight to number 88.
Now, given Kane's production (including his role in recent PP success), it's important to note that this is hardly a devastating issue; clearly things have gone reasonably well when it comes to the process of integrating Kane into Detroit's attack.
However, on the most recent episode of The Silky Mitten State, my co-host Connor Earegood wondered if some of that success might be obscuring a potential issue with this sense of deferring automatically to Kane in certain situations.
In the above featured video, you can see a snippet of that conversation. For the full discussion, check out the entire episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify:
Also from THN Detroit
From the Archive: McCarty has no Regrets for Avenging Lemieux's Cheap Shot on 'Brother'
Cossa Earns First AHL Shutout in 1-0 Griffins Win
Prospect Roundup: Emmitt Finnie Finding Scoring Touch for Kamloops
Trade Deadline: Would Jake Guentzel Fit with the Red Wings?
Sandin Pellikka, Skellefteå Fall in Champions Hockey League Final