3-time Stanley Cup champion Patrick Kane returns to Blackhawks on 2-year contract

CHICAGO — It’s showtime once again at the United Center.

Right wing Patrick Kane, 37, signed a two-year, $16 million contract with the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday, returning to the team with which the future Hall of Famer spent his first 16 seasons and won three Stanley Cups. The deal includes a full no-movement clause.

“Day in and day out for 16 seasons, Patrick captivated the city of Chicago with his dazzling skill, creating some of the most memorable moments in Blackhawks history as he helped bring our storied franchise back to the pinnacle of our sport,” general manager Kyle Davidson said in a statement. “He’s shown on countless occasions that he knows what it takes to win at the highest levels.”

The Hawks drafted Kane with the No. 1 pick in 2007, a year after they selected Jonathan Toews at No. 3. Kane would go on to become a franchise legend, totaling 1,225 points (446 goals, 779 assists) in 1,161 regular-season games with the Hawks and winning the 2008 Calder Trophy (rookie of the year), 2013 Conn Smythe Trophy (playoff MVP) and 2016 Hart Trophy (league MVP).

He spent the last three seasons with the Detroit Red Wings, and the sides had expressed mutual interest in signing Kane to another contract. But one — or both — had a change of heart, and Kane became an unrestricted free agent July 1.

Hall of Fame defenseman Chris Chelios told The Score on July 15 that he had spoken with Kane, who was deciding between the Hawks and Buffalo Sabres. In the end, the Buffalo, N.Y., native chose his former team over his hometown team.

The signing signals a change in mindset for Davidson, who had brushed off the idea of a reunion with Kane two years earlier.

“He did have a really good year (in Detroit and) I think we’re all really happy to see that … (but) we made some really tough decisions on some longstanding players,” Davidson said at the 2024 NHL draft combine. “I don’t foresee us going back on that.”

Well, trying times tend to change plans. Kane will be the Hawks’ top scoring threat while star center Connor Bedard heals from left shoulder surgery after suffering an injury in early July while practicing in his hometown of Vancouver, British Columbia.

Kane has talked previously about Bedard’s skill. Now the two might play side by side upon the 21-year-old’s return, likely in November.

“(Bedard is) dangerous every time I’m watching and every time he’s on the ice,” Kane said Nov. 8. “(He’s) someone that’s going to help that franchise take the next step.”

Bedard last week signed a five-year, $75 million contract extension, and he’ll have more help on the wing when he returns. Kane joins a group of wingers that includes Tyler Bertuzzi, Nick Lardis and rookie Roman Kantserov.

While discussing his extension with reporters Monday, Bedard was asked about the possibility of Kane returning to Chicago.

“Obviously we’d all be so excited to have a player like that (and) also a guy like that,” Bedard said. “I can’t imagine his first game back at the (United Center), the reaction he’d get and how much juice that would bring to not only our team but our fans.

“You talk about the legacy aspect of it, but he would make us a way better team (because) he’s still an amazing player. … Hopefully he comes back and we can play together.”

Toews, who retired last month after a final season with the Winnipeg Jets, congratulated his former teammate on his return — even if he felt a little left out.

“Awesome news, pretty cool to see him get the chance to go back,” Toews told The Athletic via text message. “The team is heading in the right direction and he’ll bring such good experience and leadership for the young guys in that room.

“We were texting and as happy as I am for him, I told him I’m straight up jealous that he’s gonna get to play for the Hawks again.”

After missing the playoffs in Kane’s rookie season, the Hawks appeared in the postseason every year from 2009-2017. They won their first Stanley Cup in 49 years in 2010 — clinched in Game 6 with Kane’s overtime goal in Philadelphia — and added two more banners in 2013 and 2015.

The good times started to fade when the Hawks missed the playoffs in 2018 after back-to-back first-round exits. They finished every season with fewer than 85 points for the rest of Kane’s first stint in Chicago.

After former Hawks GM Stan Bowman left amid the findings of the Bradley Aldrich sexual assault investigation in 2021, Davidson took the reins and started a rebuild. The first big steps of the new era were to grant Kane’s trade request — sending him to the New York Rangers on Feb. 28, 2023 — and to forgo extending Toews’ contract at the end of that season.

“It doesn’t seem real right now that we traded Patrick Kane,” Davidson said at the time. “I think it was an impossibly difficult decision for (Kane) — he’s been a Blackhawk for so long, had so many big moments and really grown up in Chicago. That’s not easy to change at this point in your career.”

After the Rangers lost in the first round of the 2023 playoffs, Kane signed the first of three one-year deals with the Red Wings, who have the league’s longest current postseason drought at 10 years.

Kane — the highest-scoring American-born player in NHL history — has 1,400 points (508 goals, 892 assists) in 1,369 games between the Hawks, Rangers and Red Wings. He’s in the top three in Hawks history in goals, assists and points.