The New York Rangers officially acquired winger Patrick Kane from the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night. In exchange, the Rangers will send the Blackhawks two draft picks, namely a conditional 2023 second-round pick and a 2025 fourth-round pick. Should the Rangers make the Eastern Conference finals, then the 2023 second-round pick will become a first-rounder.
In addition to Kane, the Rangers will receive minor league defenseman, Cooper Zech, while minor league defenseman Andy Welinski will head to Chicago.
New York had to overcome several hurdles in order to secure Kane’s signature, which included freeing up cap space in order to fit Kane’s contract. By 5 p.m. ET, the Rangers were able to free up the required cap space, thereby enabling themselves to proceed with the trade.
Following Kane’s trade, Chicago will retain 50% of Kane’s $10.5 million contract, while the Arizona Coyotes are already signed on to take 50% of that proportion. This means that just $2.625 million will be included in the Rangers’ cap.
“We definitely took that into consideration. There probably wasn’t another situation where we would have pushed the limits,” Rangers general manager Chris Drury admitted.
