The Detroit Red Wings lost a key veteran leader in the locker room when Patrick Kane returned to the Chicago Blackhawks, but they must move on without him and find a way to fill the leadership and offensive void.
The Detroit Red Wings are in the full swing of Training Camp as they prepare for the 2026-27 NHL season, and while Dylan Larkin has not been skating and defenseman Simon Edvinsson has participated in on-ice work but not scrimmages as an unsigned RFA, the Red Wings are also without another familiar veteran presence.
Future Hall of Fame forward Patrick Kane, who had been with the Red Wings since December 2023, ended his time in the Motor City when he signed a two-year, $16 million contract with the Chicago Blackhawks.
In doing so, he returns to the club that selected him No. 2 overall in 2007, where he spent the majority of his career and won the Stanley Cup three times.
While it initially appeared that Kane was open to returning for another season in Detroit, circumstances changed over the summer.
For his now-former Red Wings teammates he leaves behind, it represents a noticeable void in their lineup.
"Unbelievable hockey player, great person, great mentor for a lot of guys in this room," said J.T. Compher. "We wish him the best, obviously going back to an organization that he means a lot to... he'll be missed."
Defenseman Moritz Seider acknowledged that while Kane's departure was difficult for the Red Wings, he understands why the veteran forward ultimately chose to return to Chicago.
"Hard, but obviously I can't really blame the guy," Seider said. "It's an unreal contract he got offered, and I'm really happy for him. It's really cool for me personally to see him back in his original colors, but I think he took a lot of time to think about coming back, and it just shows how much this organization means to him, and how much the locker room meant to him.
"Of course we're going to miss him, but we've got great additions and a really good team."
Prior to Kane's departure in late July, Detroit signed forward Viktor Arvidsson to a two-year contract after he scored 25 goals last season with the divisional rival Boston Bruins, and will be looking for him to replace a significant portion of the 57 points Kane recorded last season.
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"He's Patrick Kane," said coach Todd McLellan. "He is a sure-fire Hall of Famer; he's a winner. He does things a certain way; he practiced as hard as he could, and he was really good in the locker room. He was a tremendous teammate. That's why he keeps prolonging his career. Chicago wanted him back, and good for him and good for Chicago to recognize that."
McLellan noted that Kane isn't the only veteran presence no longer in the Detroit room, following the departures of James van Riemsdyk, Travis Hamonic, and David Perron, none of whom were offered a contract extension.
Naturally, those voids will now have to be filled by players once viewed as the team's younger generation who have since taken on veteran leadership roles.
"That's a lot of years and a lot of experience that people, players, even coaching staff, leaned on and looked to," McLellan said. "It's time for some change and time for Razor (Lucas Raymond), (Alex) DeBrincat, Mo (Moritz Seider), Simon (Edvinsson) - these guys to take more of it on."
They're the veterans now; they're done being kids. They're men, and they need to take more of it on. We need to have a group of people pushing that from the level that we're at right now, plus from underneath. And we hope we're going to get that from the group."
Kane will return to Little Caesars Arena with the Blackhawks on Oct. 29, and he'll almost certainly be given a video tribute and a positive reception from Red Wings fans.
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