For the fourth straight NHL season, Patrick Kane will head into the offseason as an unrestricted free agent (UFA). Although the Detroit Red Wings are coming off their 10th straight playoff-less campaign, “Showtime” is still hoping to sign an extension in Motor City.
The Red Wings now hold the longest active Stanley Cup Playoffs drought in the NHL. A disheartening end to the 2025–26 campaign saw to that, as did the Buffalo Sabres finally making it to the postseason. Now, fans demand change—mostly at the front-office level. As for Kane, the jury is still out on whether Detroit wants him back. One thing was made clear, though: Kane still believes the 313 is where he wants to be.
“I’d love to be part of the solution that helps us get over the hump for sure,” Kane admitted during his exit press conference after the 2025-26 NHL season, via Detroit Free Press. “I think there is mutual interest to come back, continue my career here.”
Kane is interested despite rumors
Although names like Steve Yzerman, Todd McLellan, and many others are in the eye of the storm in Motor City, Kane still hopes to be back with the Red Wings during the 2026–27 campaign. The rumors around Little Caesars Arena in Hockeytown are loud, but Kane is playing deaf to them.
Patrick Kane at Madison Square Garden
If Detroit indeed undergoes major structural changes, though, it remains to be seen whether a veteran like Kane would be highly regarded by a potential new front office and executive group. If it all stays the same, Red Wings fans may light their torches.
Kane was in this exact situation before
In more ways than one, fans in Detroit may start to believe they are living in a simulation. There must be a broken record somewhere, because the Red Wings are dealing with déjà vu time and again. In addition to gut-wrenching endings to seasons that leave them playoff-less, watching Kane sign a deal in the offseason has also become a yearly tradition in Detroit.
Kane signed a one-year contract with the Red Wings in 2025, ahead of the 2025–26 campaign. He signed a one-year deal with Detroit in 2024, too—and the year before that as well.
Kane’s potential next contract
Coming off a 57-point season and set to turn 38 midway through the upcoming campaign, Kane could be on track to sign a very similar deal to the one he put pen to paper on back in June 2025 (one-year, $3 million contract). All signs indicate Detroit will continue its trend of handing prove-it deals to Kane until the wheels come off or he calls it a career.
However, the Red Wings are in for another long offseason—one that hurts even more than in previous years. Much can change, and anything can happen. It’s trending in that direction, but “Showtime” is far from guaranteed to be a Red Wing in 2026–27.
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