The rumoured reunion has come to fruition as the Chicago Blackhawks announced they have signed winger Patrick Kane. Ben Pope reports that the deal is for two years with an average annual value of $8-million. Kane posted 16 goals, 57 points, and 169 shots in 67 games with the Detroit Red Wings last season and will turn 38 years old in November. He now returns to the team that drafted him, where he won three Stanley Cups, earned both a regular season and playoff MVP, and the scoring race back in 2016.

Let's break it down.

What Chicago Gets

Things didn't go to plan in Detroit, but it isn't as if Kane wasn't productive. He posted 57 goals,163 points, and 491 shots in 189 games with the Red Wings, which works out to 25 goals, 46 assists, and 213 shots every 82 games. If he can be a 25-goal, 70-point, 200-shot player with the Blackhawks, they (and fantasy managers) would probably be pleased with that.

After a series of low-dollar, one-year deals, Kane's cap hit grows from 3.1% of the salary cap last season to 7.7% this season. If he plays 75-82 games and is as productive as he was in Detroit, that cap hit is passable in points-only salary cap leagues. If he plays 65 games and his production goes down at all, it would be a big overpay. In multi-cat formats, at a cap hit similar to names like Filip Forsberg, Mark Scheifele, and J.T. Miller, it seems a bit steep but there will be rosters where it won't be a problem.

At his age, Kane is a step or two slower now than he was in his previous Blackhawks heyday, but he's still a very good playmaker and a capable finisher. That is good news for a Blackhawks team that sits 27^th by 5-on-5 goal scoring over the last two seasons. He also translates those skills to the power play, which is more good news for a franchise that was bottom-10 in the league by PP goals per minute last season. In his three years with Detroit, Kane registered more assists per minute on the power play than names like Tim Stutzle, Mark Stone, and William Nylander. He brings a much-needed playmaking dimension to the Blackhawks' man advantage.

This signing also gives Connor Bedard the most skilled winger he's had since being drafted. That this is a true statement for a 38-year-old Kane is more an indictment on Chicago than it is a checkmark for Kane, but skill is skill, and Kane was able to elevate Detroit's secondary centres like Andrew Copp and J.T. Compher. There is no reason to think he can't do that with Bedard. Their unification will be delayed as Bedard will not return to the lineup until November due to a shoulder surgery, but once that happens, we should see Bedard's fantasy ceiling rise thanks to elevated scoring both at 5-on-5 and on the power play. Until his return, either Frank Nazar or Anton Frondell will get a short-term boost.

As with Bedard, though, there is an injury history with Kane. He has missed anywhere from 10-32 games in each of the last three seasons so when Bedard is healthy, it's far from a sure thing that Kane will be in the lineup. Just getting 75 games from Kane would be enough for the team and fantasy managers, but again, it's not close to a guarantee that happens.

Adding Kane doesn't change Tyler Bertuzzi's role much because they play very different roles (and that might just be their top line when everyone is healthy), but it does put a big roadblock in front of their secondary skill wingers like Teuvo Teravainen, Andrew Mangiapane, and Nick Lardis.

Even with Chicago's scoring struggles, it's hard to not see this as an upgrade for Kane. In Detroit, he rarely played with Dylan Larkin, so he's going from Copp/Compher to Bedard. As Bedard gets his best offensive winger of the last three years, so does Kane get his best offensive centre.

This also means that when everyone is healthy, one of Nazar or Frondell will not be on the top PP unit. It will be Bedard, Bertuzzi, and Kane up front with Bowen Byram on the blue line. My guess is that Frondell and Nazar end up splitting some duties, but Frondell is a left-handed centre that would complement Bedard's right-handedness. Either way, anyone hoping for a Nazar breakout might still get it if he can mesh well with the PP out of the gate, but fantasy value in October and fantasy value in March are two different things.

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