Insider: "Complications" Face Patrick Kane In His Bid To Return To NHL

Top remaining free agent Patrick Kane is still a few weeks away from his self-imposed timeline of when he'll be ready to sign a new NHL contract. But according to the folks at TSN's Insider Trading, that presents a problem for the three-time Stanley Cup winner. 

Hip surgery this past May has Kane holding firm to the 4-for-6 month recovery timeline he had originally set. And while he's doing well as he works his way back, insider Darren Dreger says that a number of teams have been in touch, looking for a little more medical background information. He also believes that Kane won't be ready to start interviews with teams until mid-to-late October — some time into the new season. 

Fellow insider Chris Johnson says that's going to be a tricky situation for Kane in being able to pick the team of his choice:

That creates some complications. Namely, a lot of contending teams that would want to sign Patrick Kane are entering this year either right at the salary cap ceiling or in LTIR... And there aren't a lot of mechanisms those teams can pull in order to create cap space. They can't give him a 35-or-over bonus—Kane missed that by five months; can't really give him a signing bonus because that bumps up the salary cap hit in the first year. 

So ultimately it might come down to a team that has an injury in October or perhaps one of the handful of teams that has some cap space right now. 

So some of those rumors surrounding the likes of the Toronto Maple Leafs,  Carolina Hurricanes or Boston Bruins, for instance, might need to be put on hold. 

Kane, a 16-year veteran, spent the first 15 1/2 seasons of his career with the Chicago Blackhawks, winning three Stanley Cups, a Hart Trophy, the Conn Smythe, the Art Ross and the Calder Trophy. He's collected 446 goals and 1,225 points in 1,161 career games. 

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