5 Dream Landing Spots for Chicago Blackhawks Winger Patrick Kane

Make no mistake about it: The Chicago Blackhawks are entering the early stages of a rebuild. Not a retool, which is a distinction that has entered the NHL general manager vernacular over the past few seasons. No. This will be a full-on restructuring of the roster.

Freshly minted GM Kyle Davidson was upfront about that during his introductory presser earlier in March:

"We're going to look at more of a rebuild here. There are some things that we really need to fix that are going to take time. ... We really need to do this the right way and we're going to stick to the plan and take our time with it and make sure that when we get to where we want to go, then it was the result of a plan that was stuck to and not deviated from."

The question that immediately comes to mind is difficult to answer: Where does a veteran like Patrick Kane fit into the equation? He wants to retire a Blackhawk, saying that it would be "a privilege and an honor," according to Tracey Myers of NHL.com.

The NHL is a business, though. One with little, if any, room for sentimentality. And the reality is that trading Kane would speed up Chicago's rebuild significantly. He has a no-movement clause, so his fate is in his own hands.

Here we're going to look at a handful of possible fits for the 33-year-old. All five teams are "dream" destinations in one shape or form, either as a place to win the Cup or with a strong personal connection to Kane himself. Keep in mind that this is mostly speculation and that we'll source rumors where they exist.

Do you think Davidson will offload Kane sometime within the next few months? Where do you think he could land? Sound off in the comments and let us know.

The idea of Kane joining one of the league's most dominant offenses is, in a word, terrifying. Yet it's something that the Colorado Avalanche have at least kicked tires on, according to The Fourth Period's David Pagnotta on NHL Network.

On the surface, it appears unlikely that Colorado would be able to squeeze Kane on to their roster. He has a monster cap hit of $10.5 million after all.

The Avalanche will have around $3.9 million in cap space to work with at the March 21 trade deadline, according to CapFriendly. The team would need some cap help to make it happen, but it could feasibly add the right wing without giving up much of the NHL roster. Where Kane would fit is another question.

The Avalanche's top line is more or less set in stone. Only 25 offensive trios have spent 250 minutes or more together this season, according to MoneyPuck.com, and the unit of Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen is one of them. Not only that, but they also have the eighth-best expected goals for percentage in that group.

That doesn't exactly scream "break us up."

Valeri Nichushkin skates on the right side of the second line, and he's developed into a two-way star for the Avalanche. So much so that he's getting some love for the Selke Trophy.

That doesn't leave much room for Kane, as it seems unlikely that Colorado would give up multiple assets just to upgrade its third line. And it's tough to imagine the longtime top-flight forward being happy in that role too.

They have inquired about him, though, so we would be remiss to leave them off this list.

Unlike the Avalanche, the New York Rangers have a boatload of cap space to work with as the deadline approaches. CapFriendly has them sitting with more than $30 million. This is a team that wasn't supposed to make much noise in 2021-22, yet here they are, with a nearly 100 percent chance to make the postseason.

Still, the Rangers have gotten by with a middling attack and astonishing goaltending from Igor Shesterkin. While it would be unclear where Kane would slot in for Colorado, it's obvious where he would land in New York. 

He would immediately become the organization's best right wing and could play on the top line alongside Chris "going to score 50 goals this year" Kreider and Mika Zibanejad. Perhaps the more tantalizing option would be to play him on the second unit, though, which would reunite him with Artemi Panarin.

The amount of offensive creativity that the duo would possess would be special, including on the power play, which should give fans butterflies. New York is already a top-five team while up a man.

Over the past three seasons, only Leon Draisaitl and David Pastrnak have more power-play goals than Zibanejad. Kreider ranks seventh. Give the Rangers another passer like Kane to play with, and that could create one of the league's most hard-to-contain power-play units.

Kane could also become a mentor of sorts for 2020 first overall selection Alexis Lafreniere. He's performed well since landing on the top line over the past month or so, and learning from one of the game's best wingers would only be good for his development.

Is it fair to say that the Los Angeles Kings are done rebuilding? They will need to prove that they can perform as they have in 2021-22 consistently, but it's impossible not to be impressed by the work general manager Rob Blake has done.

Ironically, he accomplished what the Blackhawks failed to do: surrounding an established group of former Stanley Cup-winning veterans with enough pieces to remain relevant in the standings. It's tough not to see the parallels here, but we digress.

Blake hitting nearly every nail on the head leaves him with arguably the best team in the Pacific Division—we see you, Calgary, don't worry—and one of, if not the league's best prospect pipeline. It's a situation that allows the Kings to be in the running for defenseman Jakob Chychrun and could also put them in play for someone like Kane.

Los Angeles has established an identity as a hard-working, forechecking machine. Maybe Kane fits into that reality. Maybe he doesn't. The fact remains that goals are tough to come by, and this is a team that could stand to score a bit more of them.

They score goals at the 18th-best rate in the league—not exactly the kind of production you want from a contender for a division banner. To wit: The Calgary Flames have a plus-58 goal differential, while the Kings carry a plus-10.

Adding Kane would give them a bona fide game-breaker. He could also help boost their power play, which is fifth-worst in the league. 

The Kings are well ahead of schedule. Trading for one of the top right wings in the NHL would propel them even further ahead in their quest for another Stanley Cup championship while Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty and Jonathan Quick are still effective.

Here's another organization trying to optimize a roster while its veterans are still playing at a high level. The Boston Bruins can play just about anyone alongside Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron, and they would look like rock stars.

Just ask Craig Smith, who is technically a part of the most dominant line in the NHL in terms of expected goals for percentage. Or Jake DeBrusk, who has gone on a scoring tear since landing on the top line a few weeks ago.

DeBrusk was slotted there in the first place, though, because the Bruins have been searching for scoring depth all season long. Having David Pastrnak on the second unit certainly helps, but adding Kane would give Boston a top six that would be difficult to keep up with.

Across a seven-game playoff series, could you imagine trying to match up against these top lines?

Brad Marchand—Patrice Bergeron—David Pastrnak

Taylor Hall—Erik Haula—Patrick Kane

The preference in Boston would likely be to add another center. Someone like Tomas Hertl would be a spectacular fit too. But if the goal is to add more goal-scoring depth, it's tough to argue against the addition of Kane here.

Over the past three seasons, only 10 players have had a better point-per-game average than Kane's 1.16, according to StatHead.com. Marchand happens to be one of those players ahead of him, while Pastrnak ranks 14th. You want scoring depth? How's that for scoring depth.

Just hear us out.

If Kane wants a few more guaranteed cracks at the Stanley Cup—or, hell, even at making the playoffs—then he won't go anywhere near the Buffalo Sabres. Again, he has a full no-movement clause, and any trade that Chicago comes up with involving him, he'll have to give the OK to.

The Sabres have seemingly been stuck in rebuild mode since 2012, and they haven't made the playoffs since the year prior. Trading Jack Eichel earlier in the season signaled another restructuring in Buffalo, but it is not guaranteed to stretch on for half a decade.

They have arguably the best prospect pool in the sport, with Scott Wheeler of The Athletic giving them the No. 1 spot in his updated team rankings in February. The pieces that came back over in the Eichel deal are already working out quite well too.

Kane is from Buffalo, and he grew up 10 minutes away from KeyBank Center. Before playing his first game against the Sabres as a rookie in 2007, the then-19-year-old wing said this about his hometown: "Buffalo is pretty much where my life is. It's where my family is. It's where my life started."

That was a long time ago, and Kane has since upgraded his living situation in Chicago. Still, what would it mean to Kane to go back to his home city and help get the hapless Sabres back to where they were when he was a kid?

Nostaglia mattered to John Tavares. Maybe it would matter to Kane too.

It's impossible to read minds, but Kane has his Stanley Cup rings. He's spent time on dynastic teams in Chicago. Adding someone with that kind of history would mean a lot for a Sabres team that hasn't been a desirable landing spot for free agents for quite some time.

As we saw in L.A., adding the right few pieces can quickly accelerate a rebuild. In that regard, Kane would be a definite fit with the Sabres. Buffalo would likely be able to pay him more than anyone else after his contract expires as well.

Money talks, and they say that all roads lead to home eventually.