The real reason why Patrick Kane left his former team has finally been revealed

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Ryan Hall
November 18, 2023 (0:39)

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Much was made during the run-up to last year's trade deadline when Patrick Kane made it clear that he no longer wanted to remain with the Chicago Blackhawks and wanted to join the New York Rangers for a playoff run in hopes of winning another Stanley Cup.

Unfortunately, this dream did not materialize as the Rangers were knocked out in the first round. Soon afterward, Kane underwent hip resurfacing surgery at the beginning of June, which put him out for a minimum of four to six months.

Recently, his name began to pop up across the web as he draws closer to his return to the NHL and is vying for the NHL teams that will be a great fit for him.

It appears the Rangers are no longer in the running for retaining him, and the reason has been revealed. It's a simple matter of a lack of cap space. According to Frank Seravalli of the Daily Faceoff, the Rangers can no longer afford the salary that many expect to be in the range of two to $4 million per season, and the Rangers currently only hold $633,000 in cap space.

"The latest on Kane is that the interview process is ongoing. He is talking to teams; we just talked about the New York Rangers. Surprisingly, a couple of days ago, Larry Brooks and the New York Post reported that the Rangers were out.

Part of that is an actual salary cap mechanism issue. Kane wants to sign soon, like in the next eight days, hopefully by the end of next week, so we can stop answering this question.

But he wants to sign soon, and the way the Rangers are structured right now, especially with those guys, Adam Fox being out, they don't actually have any extra cap space, not even $1 million, to be able to get something like that done."

After the disappointing loss in the playoffs, the Rangers hired a new coach in Peter Laviolette, and the team has been humming along at an incredible pace of 11-2-1 through 14 games.

Several teams are attempting to court Kane, including the Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, Buffalo Sabres, and the Dallas Stars. It's expected that his announcement of which team he chooses will be soon.