Artemi Panarin welcomes Patrick Kane to the Rangers originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Patrick Kane is headed to the New York Rangers where he’ll team up with a former Chicago Blackhawks teammate, Artemi Panarin.
It’ll have to wait until Thursday night however, when Kane will join Panarin and Vincent Trocheck’s line.
In the mean time, Panarin made a video to welcome Kane to the Rangers.
“Patrick, Patrick… congratulations,” Panarin said.
To the point.
The Blackhawks traded the franchise icon on Tuesday, ending a significant and successful era of hockey in Chicago.
It was a three-team deal between Chicago, the Rangers and the Arizona Coyotes, mainly to help retain salary.
In the end the Blackhawks acquired Andy Welinski, a conditional second round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft (that could turn into a first if the Rangers reached the Eastern Conference Final this season), a fourth-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.
With the Blackhawks in a full-scale rebuild, it felt inevitable that Kane would be moved ahead of the March 3 trade deadline. He was in the final year of his contract which carried a cap hit of $10.5 million and included a full no-movement clause.
Kane will go down as perhaps the greatest player in Blackhawks history. He was drafted by Chicago with the No. 1 overall pick in 2007 and went on to lead the franchise to three Stanley Cup victories while picking up a Hart and Art Ross Trophy and a Conn Smythe Trophy along the way.
Kane ranks second in franchise history with 1,225 points, behind only Stan Mikita (1,467). It’s only a matter of time before Kane’s No. 88 is raised to the rafters and a statue is unveiled outside the United Center.
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