Connor Bedard makes his sales pitch to Patrick Kane

The best remaining unrestricted free agent left on the market is someone Chicago Blackhawks fans are very familiar with. Patrick Kane, perhaps the greatest player in team history, remains unsigned, and the rumors of a reunion keep getting louder.

Don’t Argue with Cheli

We’ve heard chatter about Kane returning to the Blackhawks for the past few weeks. Guys like Elliotte Friedman, Chris Johnston, and Scott Powers casually mentioned it, but more as thinking out loud than reporting something they’ve heard.

Then, last week, Blackhawks legend Chris Chelios poured gasoline on the fire during his appearance on 670 The Score.

“I’m not going to lie to you guys; it’s down to Buffalo and Chicago,” Chelios told the Mully and Haugh Show. “I know that because, obviously, I spoke to him. It’s a tough decision for him; it really is. Whether to go home and make it easy on his parents and family, and finish like Tazer tried to do. Or he comes back, and in my opinion, he’s a Blackhawk. The Blackhawks see how tough it is to make the playoffs. With the absence of Connor at the beginning of the season, how great would that be? He’s so beloved in Chicago. I’m hoping he leans that way. I think he’s going to make his decision pretty quick now.”

That’s quite the source, and one that is hard to argue with.

Connor Makes His Pitch

On the surface, bringing back Kane feels like a move from years past. We’ve seen plenty of aging veterans brought in at the end of their careers, with hopes that name recognition will drive ticket sales. However, this wouldn’t be one of those moves. Kane has shown that he is still a productive player.

The 37-year-old future Hall of Famer had 16 goals and 41 points in 67 games last season. And while his Detroit Red Wings were having another late-season collapse, Kane was still producing. He had seven goals and 24 points over the last 20 games of the regular season. The Blackhawks could use production like that to start the season without Connor Bedard.

While meeting the media on Monday, Bedard was asked if Kane was heading back to the Windy City.

“I hope so,” he said with a big smile. “I don’t know what I could say to persuade his decision. Obviously, we’d all be so excited to have a player like that but also a guy like that. I can’t imagine his first game back at the UC – the reaction he’d get and how much juice that would bring to not only our team, but our fans, as well. It would be incredible to get to play with him and learn from him. Hopefully, he decides to come back; it would make us a much better team. He’s still an amazing player.”

Bedard is right; signing Kane would add some juice among the fans, who are dying for something positive to get excited about. Could you imagine how loud the United Center would be the first time these two connect for a goal on home ice?

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