DETROIT -- Patrick Kane looked like, well, Patrick Kane when the Detroit Red Wings practiced Thursday for the first time since the All-Star break. He whipped passes through seams, fired pucks under crossbars and skated around the ice with ease.
The 35-year-old forward returned against the Vancouver Canucks at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday (1 p.m. ET; BSDET, SNP) after missing seven games with a lower-body injury unrelated to the hip resurfacing surgery he had June 1.
If anything, the injury took his mind off the hip.
“You try to look at the positive in the situation,” he said. “Obviously, it’s tough to miss games and have another injury when your body’s feeling good, but I guess it could be a good thing that I’m out there not really thinking about it.”
This is encouraging for the Red Wings, who are trying to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in eight seasons, and Kane, who is thinking about this season and beyond.
“We’re just excited to have him back,” coach Derek Lalonde said. “Hopefully, he can get right back to pace as soon as possible.”
No one knew what to expect when Kane signed a one-year, $2.75 million contract with the Red Wings on Nov. 28. Few NHL players had undergone hip resurfacing surgery, and none had sustained success afterward. Then again, this was a future Hall of Famer with elite hands and hockey sense.
The plan was to start slowly -- limited minutes, no back-to-back games. Kane had more than a week to practice and didn’t debut until Dec. 7. But the plan changed quickly because of injuries to others. Kane’s third and fourth games were back to back, a 6-3 loss at the Dallas Stars on Dec. 11 followed by a 6-4 win at the St. Louis Blues the next night. He played more than 20 minutes in each of those games.
Kane had two points (one goal, one assist) in his first six games, then 11 points (five goals, six assists) in his next six games. He had three points (one goal, two assists) in the next six games before he took a hit and left early in the first period of a 4-2 win at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Jan. 14.
Although he was close to returning in the Red Wings’ last game before the All-Star break, Kane didn’t play in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators on Jan. 31. He rehabbed off the ice during the break and didn’t skate again until Wednesday.
“It was nice to have an extra week to 10 days there just to give it some more time and not rush back,” he said.
Kane said he was still thinking about the hip until he sustained his latest injury, but he’s not anymore.
“You want to take care of it,” he said. “You want to stay on top of it. But it’s kind of in the back of my mind now -- or pretty much out of my mind now -- that I’m coming back and dealing with something else.
“It’s good. I’m really happy with it, happy with the way everything’s gone throughout the year. Obviously, I think I could have had a little bit more production throughout the season, but just happy with the way everything’s felt. Really, really excited about the possibilities, just moving forward in my career and next year, years down the line.”
Kane skated with center J.T. Compher and forward David Perron at practice Thursday. He wasn’t with forward Alex DeBrincat, with whom he had great chemistry with the Chicago Blackhawks from 2017-22. DeBrincat has been with center Dylan Larkin and forward Lucas Raymond; Larkin, the captain, has 16 points (10 goals, six assists) on a 12-game point streak. No need to mess with that.
But Kane is still with DeBrincat on the power play, and Lalonde said Kane has brought more than just offense.
“I think he has a high standard for himself,” Lalonde said. “I just really appreciate where he started to take some ownership, some intensity within the group, some leadership, which I thought was great. He was doing things defensively in his game to pitch in on our team play.”
Kane sees potential in the Red Wings, who hold the second wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
“I think we’re in a great spot right now,” he said. “The position we’re in, you don’t want to throw all that away, all the hard work you’ve done to get yourself into that spot. I know they’ve really been building up a culture here over the years, and it’s getting to that point where you could get into the playoffs, be a tough out, make it hard on teams in the playoffs. A lot of confidence in the group, excited about where we could go.”
