Amid reports that the Detroit Red Wings could be boycotting any Dylan Larkin trade and the intense buzz surrounding Motor City, Patrick Kane makes his return to Little Caesars Arena with the Chicago Blackhawks. For both Kane and the Red Wings, it’s been anything but a smooth-sailing 2026-27 NHL season, so it makes sense if neither party is entering the reunion game in high spirits.
Kane’s statement addressing how fans might react to his return perfectly encapsulates that feeling. Kane, the Blackhawks, Larkin, and the Red Wings all have bigger fish to fry. The game at Little Caesars Arena will indeed be special, but it won’t solve any of the bigger issues both sides are dealing with.
“We’ll see. I mean, I guess you never know with Chicago and Detroit, right? Big rivalry,” Kane admitted, via Kalen Lumpkins of the Chicago Tribune. “But like I said, the fans were great to me there. So either way, whatever it goes, I understand, but I really loved my time there.”
Larkin’s trade request might have led to Kane’s exit
Kane has never explicitly said so, but he’s hinted at it from time to time. Moreover, the dots are too aligned not to connect. Until Larkin requested a trade out of Detroit, Kane hadn’t suggested he wanted to leave the team.
Patrick Kane #88 of the Chicago Blackhawks.
However, everything changed after Larkin’s house-of-cards-crushing decision. Not long after, Kane announced he wouldn’t be returning to the Red Wings once he became an NHL free agent.
Chicago immediately emerged as a suitor and ended up landing “Showtime,” beating out his hometown club, the Buffalo Sabres, in the sweepstakes. The Hawks’ two-year, $16 million contract was simply too good for Kane to pass up and well beyond any other potential offer.
Larkin and Kane meet again
Months later, Kane and Larkin finally reunite, albeit in different uniforms. With the latest Red Wings update denying an imminent trade for Larkin despite his absence at practice, the former captain is expected to play against the Hawks and go head-to-head with the fellow American skater he might have, unknowingly, driven out of the organization with his trade request.
When Kane headed for the door in Detroit, though, he probably didn’t expect Larkin to remain untraded through October of the 2026-27 NHL season. Perhaps, had he known, he would’ve done things differently.
Key takeaways
- Patrick Kane returns to Little Caesars Arena with the Chicago Blackhawks against the Detroit Red Wings.
- A two-year, $16 million contract convinced Patrick Kane to return to Chicago.
- An imminent trade for Dylan Larkin was dismissed by the Detroit Red Wings.
