The Chicago Blackhawks have agreed to trade star winger Patrick Kane to the New York Rangers, sources told ESPN on Tuesday.
In return, the Rangers send two draft picks to Chicago — a 2023 second-round pick, which carries conditions for upgrading to a first-round pick, and a 2023 fourth-round pick.
The deal is expected to become official after 5 p.m. ET on Tuesday, when New York has amassed the cap space to fit Kane’s contract. Chicago will retain 50 percent of Kane’s $10.5 million contract, sources told ESPN, and the Arizona Coyotes signed on to pick up 50 percent of that, meaning Kane will count for just $2.625 million against Rangers cap hit.
The trade call is scheduled for later Tuesday, sources told ESPN.
Kane is expected to travel to the East Coast on Tuesday and could make his debut for the Rangers on Wednesday in Philadelphia.
Kane, 34, the Blackhawks’ No. 1 overall pick in 2007 and a three-time Stanley Cup champion, is in the final year of an eight-year deal that included a no-movement clause. The winger forced Chicago’s hand to go to his preferred destination, which greatly reduced a potential comeback for the Blackhawks.
The 2023 second-round pick will become a first-round pick if the Rangers advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. However, that first round pick would be either 2024 or 2025.
Kane’s departure represents Chicago’s official departure from the championship era as it rebuilds through the draft with a new management team and coaching staff in place.
The Rangers initially wanted to add just one high-profile winger at the trade deadline, according to multiple sources, and opted for the Blues’ Vladimir Tarasenko over Kane earlier this month.
“It’s not the happiest I’ve ever heard of a trade,” Kane told reporters shortly afterward. According to sources, several teams tried to pursue Kane — including the Carolina Hurricanes, Dallas Stars and Edmonton Oilers — but the winger pushed behind the scenes to continue with the Rangers.
Kane has been nursing a hip injury this year, which is one of the reasons the Rangers initially held off on signing the veteran, sources told ESPN. Kane told reporters the severity of that injury was overblown and then broke out — scoring seven goals and 10 points in his most recent four games before leaving the Blackhawks’ West Coast road trip Saturday to return to Chicago one time. the Rangers trade materialized.
In New York, Kane will be reunited with Artemi Panarin — his teammate for two seasons in Chicago, including Panarin’s Calder Trophy-winning rookie year in 2015-16.
A native of Buffalo, New York, Kane had 20 goals in 14 of his 15 seasons prior to this year. And last year, as the rebuild was just beginning to take shape in Chicago, he still managed 26 goals and 92 points.