Kane trade has Rangers thinking they're 'capable' of winning Cup

PHILADELPHIA -- With Patrick Kane set to join their lineup, the New York Rangers are built to win the Stanley Cup, and anything short of a championship could at this point seem like a disappointment.

"I think everyone in this room believes that it is possible and that we are capable of it," forward Tyler Motte said.
The same is being said about other teams in the loaded Eastern Conference, namely the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Tampa Bay Lightning, Carolina Hurricanes and New Jersey Devils. All have added big pieces ahead of the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline on Friday at 3 p.m. ET.
But the excitement was palpable in the visiting dressing room at Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday when the Rangers got to talking about their newest big-name addition before a 3-2 overtime win at the Philadelphia Flyers.
RELATED: [NHL Trade Tracker | Kane traded to Rangers | Trade to New York ends era of Chicago hockey]
New York acquired Kane in a three-team trade with the Chicago Blackhawks and Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday. He will make his Rangers debut against the Ottawa Senators at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, playing on a line with Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck.
The Rangers previously acquired forward Vladimir Tarasenko and defenseman Niko Mikkola in a trade with the St. Louis Blues on Feb. 9, and Motte from the Ottawa Senators on Feb. 19.
"I think it just adds a level of excitement for us," center Mika Zibanejad said. "That's how we see and that's how we should see it. The pressure is going to be there no matter what."
When Kane joins Thursday, Tarasenko will play on the other top line with Zibanejad and Chris Kreider. Motte will be a key component of a revamped fourth line with Barclay Goodrow and Jimmy Vesey. Mikkola will likely be a third pair defenseman as soon as K'Andre Miller (three-game suspension) and Ryan Lindgren (upper body) are back.

"It just makes our team a lot deeper, there's no doubt," Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. "A lot of skill and a lot of talent, but you've got to do it on the ice. It's a real good team on paper and we've got to make sure we're ready to play hard and compete hard and do it on the ice."
The Rangers were one of the most active teams before the deadline last season, acquiring forwards Andrew Copp, Frank Vatrano and Motte, and defenseman Justin Braun in four separate trades.
Those moves all paid off in a big way. New York reached the Eastern Conference Final before losing in six games to the Tampa Bay Lightning. All four players contributed, including Vatrano on the top line and Copp on the second line.
But adding two superstars in Kane and Tarasenko to an already star-studded top-six forward group is eye-popping.
"It definitely feels different," Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said.
Kane is definitely different.
He's a three-time Stanley Cup champion (2010, 2013, 2015), a Hart Trophy winner as the NHL's most valuable player (2015-16), a Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the MVP of the Stanley Cup Playoffs (2013), an Art Ross Trophy winner for leading the NHL in scoring (2015-16) and a Calder Trophy winner as the rookie of the year (2007-08). He's arguably the best United States-born player to ever play in the NHL.
The 34-year-old has 45 points (16 goals, 29 assists) in 54 games this season. He had seven goals and 10 points in his final four games with the Blackhawks. He is still as sneaky, smart, elusive and talented as ever. Few players control the game with the puck on his stick the way Kane does.
Panarin, by the way, is one of them.

"Everything," Zibanejad said when asked what impresses him about Kane. "I mean, obviously the way he plays with the puck. He can score. He can pass. He's just so calm. I don't know how you get the puck off of him. He's such a threat. … I'm just excited to see him up close and have him on our team to see what he's going to do."
The Rangers' younger forwards, Filip Chytil, 23, Alexis Lafreniere, 21, and Kaapo Kakko, 22, idolized Kane growing up, watching his highlights on YouTube in Kromeriz, Czech Republic, St-Eustache, Quebec, and Turku, Finland.
"When you're a forward scoring goals as a kid growing up, you're always following the players who can score the clutch goals, score the important goals, winning trophies," Chytil said. "I don't know how many times in the playoffs he won a game for the Blackhawks. Every time I woke up in the morning for me that was the first thing I was watching. Unbelievable for me when I was a kid that I could watch that. And now he's part of us. It's great."
It was not lost on Chytil that as he was talking about Kane he was standing in the same dressing room where his newest teammate celebrated his first Stanley Cup championship, after scoring the overtime winner in a clinching Game 6 against the Flyers in 2010.
"If somebody would tell me before I would get to the NHL these names that I would play with, for me that would be unreal," Chytil said.
It will become real Thursday, when Kane arrives, his teammates welcome him and the fans at Madison Square Garden cheer for him.
It should be a special night in a special place. It could be the start of a special run too.
The Rangers (35-17-9), who are third in the Metropolitan Division, six points behind the Devils, are built for it.
"You add the type of players we're talking about, the Tarasenkos and the Kanes, real good hockey players, great name players," Gallant said. "Let's get it done on the ice."