Chicago Blackhawks right winger Patrick Kane has been lukewarm about the team’s offseason moves.
Back in June, Kane was “disappointed” and “a little emotional” that the team traded Artemi Panarin and the Blackhawks continued to embark on a roster overhaul that saw the departure of many players and the addition of 11 players via trade and free agency.
Back in July, Kane said the following:
“If you look at our season last year, I mean, we had a pretty good season,” Kane said via NHL.com.
“We just kind of collapsed there at the end. Disappointing finish, but when that happens, you know there’s going to be changes. You can’t really ask for much more from a management standpoint, as far as asking for them to make moves to help us win. They did that.”
Kane is starting to warm up to the flurry of moves that Chicago has made.
“It’s tough to say,” Kane said on Saturday (h/t NHL.com).
“I think time will tell, obviously, but I’d like to think on paper we’re a better team.”
Kane noted the big roster turnover including non contract offers for Brian Campbell and Johnny Oduya, goalie Scott Darling traded to the Carolina Hurricanes, Marcus Kruger traded to the Vegas Golden Knights and the loss of defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk to Vegas in the NHL Expansion Draft, among other moves.
“Obviously, there’s some faces that have been here for a long time, and some faces you didn’t want to see go, that are maybe kind of the cause of some of those moves, but it’s disappointing [to see them go],” Kane said.
“At the same time, we’ve got some guys coming back in, like [Sharp] and Saad, [and] they’re pretty high on this Murphy kid, as well. We have guys that are going to come in. It looks great on paper, but we need to go on the ice and do it.”