One Year Later, Did The Chicago Blackhawks Win The Patrick Kane Trade With The New York Rangers?

It has been one year since the Chicago Blackhawks traded Patrick Kane, arguably the greatest player in franchise history, to the New York Rangers.

Kane requested a trade before last year's trade deadline to the Rangers and general manager Kyle Davidson obliged. With little leverage, since Kane had a full no-movement clause and only would approve a move to New York, Davidson managed to get defenseman Andy Welinski and two conditional draft picks back for the team's legend.

The Hawks also received the signing rights to defenseman Vili Saarijarvi from the Coyotes as they retained some of Kane's salary to make the deal work. The Coyotes got a conditional 2025 third-round pick back from the Rangers in return for picking up 25% of Kane's cap charge.

There was even a chance the Hawks could get a first-round pick back in the deal if the Rangers made the Eastern Conference Finals. That was not to be as the Blackhawks had to settle for a second-round pick in last year's draft after New York was bounced in the first round.

Kane did not re-sign with the Rangers and instead went to Detroit. He signed during the season after he elected to have surgery on his injured hip.

The Rangers ended up losing to the New Jersey Devils in the playoffs and then saw Kane walk out the door. The Blackhawks received future assets to help in their rebuild as a result of the trade.

On its face, it looks like the Chicago Blackhawks will be the winner in the deal. It still might be too early to declare them the victors.

Especially when reviewing the players the Hawks got back and what they have done with that second-round pick so far...

Andy Welinski

Welinski was mainly brought in to help the Rockford IceHogs with a postseason run.

He played 14 regular-season games for the IceHogs last season. He registered just three assists. He also played in the IceHogs' three playoff games but did not contribute any points.

Welinski was not considered a future piece as he is no longer with the organization. He is currently skating for the AHL's Iowa Wild.