Patrick Kane defies age with power-play dominance for Red Wings

Some NHL players are just ageless wonders. And while I wouldn’t count Patrick Kane among them, I would go as far as to say he’s pretty close. No, Kane isn’t the winger he was during his prime in Chicago, but if anyone in the NHL can do what Kane does when they’re past their prime, every single one of them would take it. 

Kane can still play top-six minutes, and should he find himself back in Detroit for another year, it’s hard to expect a drop-off. Two years ago, I was 1,000 percent sure Kane was finished. That he’d return from that hip resurfacing procedure, play a few games, realize he can’t play anymore, then call it quits. 

Fortunately, that didn’t happen, and Kane’s looking like a player who will, in an absolute worst-case scenario, be a strong supplementary scorer for the Wings in 2025-26. Still, the team will count on him when they need someone to come up big on the power play. 

Grade: B-plus - Kane is slowing down, and it shows in his numbers, but it doesn’t mean he can’t play anymore. He’s a 50-60-point guy these days, and he’s someone opponents still need to know where he’s at on the ice when they’re short-handed.

Patrick Kane still gives the Red Wings more than solid depth

Kane finished the year with 21 goals and 12 power play goals, meaning he was hotter at 5-on-4 than he was at even strength. Still, this isn’t a knock on Kane, as the Red Wings were almost automatic on the power play. The question was whether the opposing goaltender also decided to get hot at the same time. 

Kane was still a playmaker, registering 38 assists and 59 points overall. Yeah, he finished the year with a minus-16, but just about every player wearing a winged wheel struggled in the plus-minus realm. He also didn’t do much defensively, but even a Patrick Kane in his prime was never much of a help when his team didn’t have the puck. 

Will Kane’s 2025-26 numbers match his 2024-25 output?

Want a logical prediction? What’s going to happen here is this: Kane’s production is going to fade some in 2025-26, but not so much that it’ll tank. If he was a 50-60-point player in 2024-25, Kane’s looking at a 50-55-point season in 2025-26, and beyond that, 45-50 points. 

Still, that’s not a bad thing as the Red Wings have stars in the making like Lucas Raymond and solid talent like Dylan Larkin to keep up their scoring output. That’s if Raymond’s stock keeps trending north and Larkin bounces back from what was an up-and-down campaign. 

Plus, I haven’t even talked about the influx of talent in the pipeline, or even those outside the organization general manager Steve Yzerman may seek out. That said, Kane’s numbers will likely decrease in 2025-26, but expect his productivity to at least remain decent. He’s not fading away fast anytime soon, and that’s good news for everyone backing the Wings.