How the Red Wings built themselves back into a contender

Kristen Shilton, ESPN NHL reporterDec 14, 2023, 07:30 AM ET

CloseKristen Shilton is a national NHL reporter for ESPN.

Patrick Kane had his pick of suitors in free agency this fall. And he wholly embraced the courting process.

It was intuition, then, that ultimately drove Kane’s decision. Because of all the offers he received on where to play next, only one team had it all — and couldn’t be ignored.

Kane’s gut told the tale: He was going to be a Detroit Red Wing.

“The thing about Detroit was, anytime I really thought about any other team, I would always kind of come back to Detroit,” said Kane. “There’s a lot of good situations for you out there and you go back and forth with [some of them] and what you want to do in your head. But I kind of knew [Detroit] was in my heart, knew it was where I wanted to be.”

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A year ago, that sentiment could have felt forced. But now? Consider Kane just one more member of the Red Wings’ ever-increasing — and increasingly star-studded — bandwagon.

Detroit has been, after all, in a years-long period of transition. The Red Wings haven’t been in the postseason since their record-setting run of 25 straight appearances came to an end in 2016. That bled into Detroit’s current seven-year drought of playoff berths, a span that saw former head coach Jeff Blashill fired, a near-total overhaul of the club’s roster and, recently at least, hope renewed that the Red Wings are finally getting somewhere.

It’s clear Kane believes that’s the case. But the three-time Stanley Cup champion was drawn to Detroit because of the groundwork laid before him — by players who chose, before Kane did, to put their faith in the Red Wings rebuild.

Captain Dylan Larkin did that when he skipped unrestricted free agency altogether to sign an eight-year, $69.6 million contract extension last March. Alex DeBrincat did it when he inked a four-year, $31.5 million contract following a trade in July. J.T. Compher, fresh from a recent Cup-winning run of his…

Source link : https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/39105878/nhl-red-wings-playoffs-standings-contender-rebuild-yzerman

Author : Kristen Shilton

Publish date : 2023-12-14 11:12:58

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