Patrick Kane set to play 19th season after signing one-year deal

According to a team announcement, the Detroit Red Wings have signed veteran forward Patrick Kane to a one-year contract for the 2025-26 season. Detroit shared that Kane will earn $3M base salary, while PuckPedia reported his potential performance bonuses:

• $2.5M after 10 games played
• $250K after 30 games played
• $250K after 50 games played
• $500K for reaching the postseason
• $250K for Round One win
• $250K for Round Two win

Although his base salary has decreased by $1M, Kane has the opportunity to earn a slight raise on his new deal with Detroit. The Red Wings signed Kane to a one-year, $4M contract a year ago to the day, with an additional $2.5M available in performance bonuses. Unfortunately for Kane, he only earned $1.75M of those bonuses. Still, by the time Kane reaches 30 games played in the upcoming season, he’ll have matched last year’s total.

Kane became an obvious re-sign candidate during the end-of-season press availability for the Red Wings. General Manager Steve Yzerman stated his intention to re-sign Kane, and the 18-year veteran felt the same way.

Since coming to Detroit early in the 2023-24 campaign, Kane has been a valuable secondary scorer for the Red Wings. Despite undergoing hip resurfacing surgery, Kane has scored 41 goals and 106 points in 122 games donning the ’Winged Wheel’, averaging 18:09 of ice time per night.

Kane’s recovery from hip resurfacing surgery has been fairly remarkable. He was in visible pain toward the end of his tenure with the Chicago Blackhawks, and he finally underwent surgery after concluding his time with the New York Rangers. The same surgery ended Nicklas Bäckström’s career prematurely, just before Kane had his. However, Kane has returned stronger, maintaining his production levels.

Furthermore, Kane’s speed hasn’t appeared affected by the surgery, either. To be fair, ’Father Time’ has zapped much of the speed from his Hart Memorial days, but it’s decreased only slightly since. According to NHL EDGE data, Kane finished in the 81st percentile of the league in 18-20 mph bursts pre-surgery, and 76th percentile post-surgery. He may not have the best edge work anymore, but Kane has been playing like he’s got much more left in the tank.

Max Bultman of The Athletic was the first to report that the Red Wings were finalizing a new deal with Kane.