Highly doubt he signs that cheap

No one is gonna pay him big money, especially playoff contenders lol

Why not? He's the same age as Giroux and Pavelski were when they hit free agency

No such thing as a taxi squad to cheat the cap anymore.

Running on one spare all year would be a disaster. I hope they do it.

When those guys hit FA, they weren't in the same "prove it" situation Kane is in....meaning he needs to show he can play with his repaired hip. And I'm guessing that most teams Kane would consider (contenders) don't have too much CAP wiggle room. So he most likely signs a discounted deal where he gets the benefit of proving he can still be productive- all the while getting a chance to contribute in a Cup run somewhere. And if all goes well, he might have another 3 or 4 year decent contract yet to sign.

A few things
1. He does not have to go to a contender, the aforementioned players are examples of that. For example he would probably be an excellent fit in Detroit where he's even reunited with DeBrincat
2. He really doesn't have to prove anything he's Patrick Kane, not a fringe NHLer. If and when he's cleared to play you are at worse getting a 60-70 point player

Agreed on #1. My point was simply from speculation. I have no idea what's going on in his head in terms of what he'd really see as a good opportunity for himself.

Can't disagree more on #2. He can totally be a shell of his former self. Even though he is a superstar, he's still human...and if the injury (and maybe other issues associated with that hip injury) aren't 100% corrected- can be debilitating enough that his floor could be much lower than you mention.

So what playoff team has the money to give him a lot? Every single team that will most likely make the playoffs pretty much have no cap

Thats why I said 1 year deal. This isn't like Wheeler or Perry where they are still being paid from theor orher contract

Neither Giroux or Pavelski signed with a playoff team

Giroux went home to Ottawa and Pavelski signed with Dallas who was up and coming lol

Kane could easily sign a cheap deal with the NYR just to stay home and get a bigger deal the following year

Kane could also go home to Buffalo or sign with Detroit who are both up and coming. NYR isn't home for him

I mean if he cares about money over playoffs than sure he can

Healthy Kane makes 7M easily on the market. Regardless he is taking a paycut here. I think he can prove his worth way more on a team leader ke Buffalo or Detroit tuan he can on New York. In New York he's not even guaranteed a 1st Line spot.

Also simply making the playoffs is not that much of a selling point. The Rangers are the 3rd best team in their division and probably 5th or 6th in the conference.

Still more of playoff team over buffalo and Detroit who probably aren’t likely to make it. Then if they sell Kane, he could force his way back to NYR which doesn’t get them much assets like Chicago

1. Not much assets is strictly more than zero
2. NYR is really not that far in front of Buffalo especially

You are really overvaluing hour own teams pedigree here

My guess is Kane will sign with whichever team presents the best opportunity to get back on the ice and show he still has it in him to be a big producer. Sure- money talks…but putting up gaudy #’s across from Panarin or Dibrincat will get him another big contract. He seemed to like NY- and the NY lineup does seem to have a hole which he could fill nicely. So I’m figuring NY to have a leg up on the others. But that can easily change once the season starts and grinds forward.