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.

Martin Misiak

Misiak was the player the Hawks selected with the second-round pick obtained in the Kane deal. He is Pope's 16th-ranked Hawks prospect while Misiak just missed Wheeler's top 15. He is a good skater with good size, but he has a lot of question marks in the rest of his game.

He does come with a physical, strong two-way game that Davidson loves.

A big, physical forward who can skate, that sounds like Misiak's fellow Slovak and Blackhawks legend Marian Hossa.

The forward currently has 37 points which includes 17 goals for the Erie Otters in the OHL. He also had three assists in five games for Slovakia during the World Juniors.

He is probably a few years away from contributing to the Hawks at the NHL level. Davidson has been patient with his prospects' development so it would not be a shock to see Misiak spend some time in Rockford before he is ready to compete for a top-six spot.

How his career plays out will determine if the Hawks won this Kane trade or not. If he busts, then this trade becomes a wash as neither team came out with what they wanted. The Rangers also got Cooper Zech in the deal from the Hawks, but he went back overseas to play.

The Hawks do have a fourth-round pick coming in this deal, but those draft picks tend to be bottom-six players or organizational depth at the AHL level. However, getting a contributing NHL player out of that pick could still help the Hawks win this trade. Truly, this comes down to Misiak's development for the Hawks to be declared the victor in this deal.