Can Patrick Kane still catch Stan Mikita's Blackhawks records?

On Thursday morning, the Chicago Blackhawks brought back a franchise legend, signing free agent Patrick Kane to a two-year deal worth $16 million. As a three-time Stanley Cup winner with the Original Six franchise, he returns after leaving at the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline, when he jetted over to New York City and the Rangers. During the past three seasons, Kane has played for a third Original Six franchise, the Detroit Red Wings.

Right now, he is the highest-scoring American-born player all-time with 1,400 points in 1,369 games. Moreover, Kane has 508 goals, making him just the country’s sixth member of the exclusive 500-goal club. In addition to a trophy room full of accolades like the Calder, Art Ross, Hart, Pearson, and Conn Smythe Trophies, he is the Blackhawks’ second-leading scorer, trailing Hall of Famer Stan Mikita in games played, assists, and points. Both players trail Hall of Famer Bobby Hull in goals, since The Golden Jet had 604 with Chicago.

At 37, Kane doesn’t have a lot of years left, but after some subpar campaigns, he took some time off to have hip resurfacing surgery and returned to score 20 goals in 50 games in 2023-24. Despite missing significant time to various ailments, Kane finished his tenure with the Red Wings with 57 goals and 163 points in 189 games, a slight underperformance compared to his years in Chicago.

With a renewed energy to return to the place where he celebrated his greatest hockey accomplishments, does Kane have enough time to catch Mikita and further cement his legacy in franchise history?

Blackhawks games played record: 1,396

Heading into the 2026-27 season, Kane has dressed for 1,161 games in a Blackhawks sweater, which is 235 games short of Mikita’s team record of 1,396. Since leaving the organization in 2023, Kane has only played more than 70 games in a single season once in 2024-25, when he played 72. Ultimately, if he were healthy for a full 82 over the next two seasons, he’s on pace to come up 71 games short.

What if? After 19 seasons in the NHL, Kane has suited up for 1,369 games, which means if he stayed in Chicago, he would have entered this season just 27 games short of the record.

Blackhawks assists record: 926

After tying a career-high with 66 assists in 2018-19, Kane overtook Denis Savard for second place on the team’s all-time assist list. When he departed for New York, he finished his tenure with 779 helpers, just 147 shy of Mikita’s franchise mark. Last year with the Red Wings, he had 41 helpers, and with a healthy Connor Bedard, the sky could be the limit over the next two seasons. However, based on his career average of 53 assists a year, he could end up 41 short of the record.

What if? Between his time with the Rangers and Red Wings, he picked up an extra 106 assists, giving him 892 for his career. Had those helpers been recorded in a Blackhawks sweater, he would have broken Mikita’s mark and been the all-time leader.

Blackhawks points record: 1,467

As mentioned, with 1,400 points, Kane is the highest-scoring American-born player of all time and ranks 24th on the league’s all-time scoring list. In Chicago, he compiled 1,225 points, putting him 242 points behind Mikita, who averaged 1.09 points per game to reach 1,467. Unfortunately, Kane hasn’t collected more than 60 points in a single season since 2021-22, when he had 92, reaching a high of 59 in 2024-25. If he happened to stay healthy and match his career average of 84 points a year, Kane would still be 74 points short.

What if? Obviously, if Kane stayed in Chicago, he’d be roughly one season away from breaking Mikita’s franchise record of 1,467 points. With the Rangers, he had only 12 points, but over three seasons with the Red Wings, he picked up another 163, bringing his total to 1,400.

The majority of the Blackhawks’ fan base is excited to have Kane back in the lineup and looks forward to his veteran leadership with the young core that had taken shape after his departure. Even though he is a long shot to overtake any of Mikita’s franchise records, the pursuit of those milestones will make fans pour into the United Center to see just how close he ends up.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow