Patrick Kane decided to re-sign with the Detroit Red Wings for his 18th professional season. The longtime veteran signed a $4 million extension to come back to what has been a rebuilding team for a long time. He didn’t have to, as he could have pursued options with stronger odds of success for the twilight years of his career.

He said the team chemistry was one of the major reasons why he chose to come back, via Daily Faceoff:

“[DeBrincat] is probably one of the bigger reasons why I came back [to Detroit]. Just being with the whole group last year, you become close with a lot of the guys and develop chemistry on the ice — you know, Larks [Larkin], Alex, Razor [Lucas Raymond], and [Moritz] Seider — guys like that, that you enjoy being around every day.”

Kane continued:

“You want to make it fun, you want to enjoy it — being around your teammates and having fun out there. I think we do that a lot in practice and try to get the best out of each other too.”

So far, Kane hasn’t had a major impact on the ice, but he should turn it around eventually. The Red Wings, on that note, are 1-2-0 and in eighth place in the Atlantic Division to open the NHL season.

Patrick Kane opens up on Detroit’s playoff drought

The Detroit Red Wings have a relatively new stadium but it has yet to see a postseason game. The Red Wings have been among the worst hockey teams in the league for a little while now, but they have been rebuilding.

Patrick Kane reflected on the playoff drought (Imagn)

While Patrick Kane hasn’t been around for all of it, he hears the noise about when the Red Wings might finally move to the next level. Via Daily Faceoff, he said:

“Yeah, you hear it. One of the teams probably has to take the next step eventually, right? You go through a rebuild for six, seven, eight years — all of a sudden it’s time to take that next step. I guess we’ll see which one does it.”

The Red Wings currently do not look like a team poised to finally break through, losing two of their first three games this year.