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.

Vili Saarijarvi

Saarijarvi is playing overseas in the Swiss National League for the SCL Tigers. He has 33 points on the season with 26 assists. That production places him among the top 10 in points among Chicago Blackhawks prospects.

The problem is the Finnish defenseman gave playing in the States a try and did not produce much. He played in the AHL from 2017-2020 first for the Grand Rapids Griffins when he was a part of the Red Wings' system and then finished up with Tucson Roadrunners when he was sent to the Coyotes. He scored two goals and registered 32 assists during those three years in the minor leagues.

He elected to return to Finland after the 2020 season. Usually, when a prospect goes back overseas, they rarely come back, especially the older ones.

He is 26 and the Blackhawks have plenty of defensive prospects and a deep defensemen draft to add more. Chicago Sun-Times Blackhawks beat writer Ben Pope ranks three defensemen, Wyatt Kaiser, Ethan Del Mastro, and Nolan Allen, among his top 10 that are already at Rockford. Isaak Phillips and Louis Crevier are also young defensemen who have bounced back and forth between Rockford and Chicago.

2022 first-round pick Sam Rinzel is currently at Minnesota and he is considered the Hawks' third-best prospect according to the Athletic's Sam Wheeler. Needless to say, Saarijarvi would have an uphill climb to crack the NHL roster someday.

Although the last time someone checked in with Vili, he did mention he would welcome a return to America. Considering he did not get an invite to last summer's 2023 Tom Kurvers Prospect Showcase from the Blackhawks, Saarijarvi is likely to be an answer to the trivia question of who the Hawks acquired in the Kane deal.