NEWSLETTER
Every once in a while you have to step back and realize that you are watching greatness. With Patrick Kane, it’s more like once per game. The Chicago Blackhawks star forward will play his 1,000th NHL game tonight, making him the 350th player in league history to reach that plateau (and just the seventh in Blackhawks history to play 1,000 games with the franchise).
What has been special to watch in the past few years is the level to which Kane has elevated his game. After winning three Stanley Cups with the Blackhawks from 2010-2015, Kane started adding the individual awards to his mantle. He won the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP in 2016, leading the league in scoring with 106 points, earning him the Art Ross Trophy in the process as well. He also won the Ted Lindsay Award as league MVP (as voted on by the NHLPA in 2016). Kane was also in the discussion for 2019 league MVP after finishing third in the NHL in scoring and nearly pulling the Blackhawks into the postseason on his own.
In 2021, he is again playing MVP-caliber hockey, sitting second in the league in scoring with 38 points in 26 games played. His play has helped rejuvenate linemate Alex DeBrincat and has propelled the Blackhawks into the playoff picture as the season reaches the mid-way point.
Stan Bowman on @WGNRadio on Patrick Kane's season: "He seems to be getting better. I don't think he's ever had a season like this. He's taken a step up as a leader on this team. He's leading the charge trying to support the young players."#Blackhawks
— Mario Tirabassi (@Mario_Tirabassi) March 9, 2021
At 32-years-old, Kane is playing the best hockey of his career. Is it possible that, as he reaches his 1,000th game played, his best hockey is still ahead of him?
Selected first overall in the 2007 NHL Draft by Chicago, Kane jumped right into the NHL at 18-years-old, and helped bring the Blackhawks franchise back from the depths of the NHL (with a little help from Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith, and Brent Seabrook, of course). In his “prime” years, Kane won the Calder Trophy (2008) as the NHL Rookie of the Year, won three Stanley Cups, a Conn Smythe in 2013, and helped Team USA earn the Silver Medal in the 2010 Olympics.
Patrick Kane: "It's crazy that you get to 1,000 so quickly. It seems like yesterday I was just starting in the league, or playing for the London Knights. It's amazing to get this number. I feel very fortunate to play in the league this long."
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) March 9, 2021
In 822 regular season games prior to his age 30 NHL season (2018-19), Kane tallied 828 career points, good for a 1.007 points per game rate and earned his individual awards after the 2015-16 season. Since his age 30 season in 2018-19, Kane has skated in 177 games with 232 points. That’s a staggering 1.31 points per game pace at 30+ years old. It’s a small sample size, but it’s an incredible level to be playing at for a player that has the mileage in hockey that Kane has.
But you know all this, yes?
Where Will Patrick Kane’s Career Rank Among Hockey’s All-Time Greats?https://t.co/rgCXNeeOEj
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) March 2, 2021
The question for today, then, isn’t how good Kane has been or how well his career will stack up when all is said and done. But rather … what does he have left in front of him?
According to Hockey Reference, Kane has career similarity scores that line up with a number of players who are Hockey Hall of Famers or surely on their way to the Hall, including Martin St. Louis, Jarome Iginla, Steve Yzerman, Bryan Trottier, and Pavel Datsyuk. All of whom played well into their 30’s in the NHL and had highly successful careers. Looking at these players and their career trajectories after turning 30, where does Kane’s career path stack up?
Bryan Trottier
•  NHL Seasons: 18 (1975-1994)
•  Age during NHL career: 19-37
•  Notable Age 30+ seasons: 1986-87 (Age 30), only season in Trottier’s Top 10 for points
•  Career games, points, pace: 1,279 games, 1,425 points, 1.11 PPG
•  Age 30+ games, points, pace: 445 games, 310 points, 0.70 PPG
•  Age 30+ awards: Won Stanley Cup with Penguins in 1991 and 1992 (Age 34 and 35 seasons)
Trottier was a monster for the New York Islanders dynasty in the early 1980’s. He won the Hart Trophy as league MVP in 1978-79 at the age of 22 and helped the Islanders win four-straight Stanley Cups from 1980-1983. Trottier played in a very different NHL than any of the other players on this list, besides Yzerman. By the time Trottier hit 30-years-old, he wasn’t the player he was early on in his career, but still was part of back-to-back Stanley Cup winning teams for the Pittsburgh Penguins. He had two seasons at age 30+ where he scored at a point per game pace in 1986-87 and 1987-88.
Steve Yzerman
•  NHL Seasons: 22 (1983-2006)
•  Age during NHL career: 18-40
•  Notable Age 30+ seasons: 1995-96 (Age 30), only season in Yzerman’s Top 10 for points
•  Career games, points, pace: 1,514 games, 1,755 points, 1.16 PPG
•  Age 30+ games, points, pace: 652 games, 595 points, 0.91 PPG
•  Age 30+ awards: Won Stanley Cup with Red Wings in 1996, 1997, and 2002 (Age 31, 32, and 36 seasons). Won 1996 Conn Smythe. Won 2000 Selke Award (Age 34).
Another player like Trottier who had monster seasons early in his career, Yzerman changed the way he played the game in his late-20’s. A long-time leader for the Detroit Red Wings, Yzerman was the cornerstone for the Detroit dynasty in the late-90’s and early 2000’s. Yzerman had four seasons at age 30+ where he scored at a point per game pace. He finished his career playing all 22 of his NHL seasons with the Red Wings, and ranks seventh all-time in the NHL in career points.
Jarome Iginla
•  NHL Seasons: 20 (1996-2017)
•  Age during NHL career: 19-39
•  Notable Age 30+ seasons: 2007-2009, 2010-11 (Ages 30-31, 33), Three seasons in Iginla’s Top five for points
•  Career games, points, pace: 1,554 games, 1,300 points, 0.84 PPG
•  Age 30+ games, points, pace: 776 games, 636 points, 0.82 PPG
•  Age 30+ awards: Finished third in 2008 MVP voting (Age 30). Won Messier Leadership Award in 2009 (Age 31).
Probably one of the greatest players to never win a Stanley Cup, Iginla was arguably the face of the NHL in the early-to-mid 2000’s. Iginla was still a great player into his early-30’s, but injuries began to pile-up later in his career and eventually handed him retirement. He had three seasons at age 30+ where he scored at a point per game pace. Iginla finished his career ranked 15th in league history in games played.
Pavel Datsyuk
•  NHL Seasons: 14 (2001-2016)
•  Age during NHL career: 23-37
•  Notable Age 30+ seasons: 2008-09, 2009-10 (Age 30-31), Two seasons in Datsyuk’s Top Five for points
•  Career games, points, pace: 953 games, 918 points, 0.96 PPG
•  Age 30+ games, points, pace: 508 games, 493 points, 0.97 PPG
•  Age 30+ awards: Won 2009 and 2010 Selke Award (Age 30-31). Finished third in 2009 MVP voting (Age 30).
“The Magician” was a key part of Stanley Cup-winning Red Wings teams in 2002 and 2008. He is regarded as one of the best defensive-minded forwards of his generation, winning three Selke Awards and finishing in the top-five of voting four other times. Datsyuk is also regarded as having one of the top-three backhand shots in the league during his time, the others being Sidney Crosby and Patrick Kane. He finished his NHL career with four seasons at age 30+ where he scored at a point per game pace.
A testament to Datysuk’s longevity is that he has played five seasons in the KHL in Russia since retiring from the NHL. In those five seasons, Datysuk has 168 points in 229 regular season games, good for a 0.73 point per game pace at the ages of 38-42. And he’s still going!
Martin St. Louis
•  NHL Seasons: 16 (1998-2015)
•  Age during NHL career: 23-39
•  Notable Age 30+ seasons: 2006-2012 (Age 31-36), Six of the seven highest-scoring seasons for St. Louis
•  Career games, points, pace: 1,134 games, 1,033 points, 0.91 PPG
•  Age 30+ games, points, pace: 770 games, 774 points, 1.005 PPG
•  Age 30+ awards: Finished third in 2011 MVP voting (Age 35). Lead NHL in points in 2013 (Age 37).
The player most similar to Kane’s career trajectory is Martin St. Louis. An ageless wonder with an incredible work-ethic, St. Louis was a cornerstone to the Tampa Bay Lightning’s dominance in the early-to-mid 2000’s. A late-bloomer in his NHL career, St. Louis won the Hart Trophy as league MVP in 2004 at the age of 28, the same year he won the Stanley Cup with the Lightning. He lead the NHL in scoring twice, once in 2003-04 and again in the shortened 2013 season at the age of 37. St. Louis had five seasons at age 30+ where he scored at a point per game pace.
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These five players are considered some of the all-time greats and Kane is already on pace to out-perform their age 30+ careers.
Kane already has two seasons at age 30+ where he has scored above a point per game pace and he is again on a better than a point per game pace this season at age 32. In fact, at 1.46 points per game, Kane is scoring at his best rate of his career by a wide margin. His best season coming two years ago in 2018-19 when he scored at a 1.35 point per game pace at the age of 30.
As he approaches regular season game number 1,000, there doesn’t seem to be any indication that Kane will be slowing down anytime soon. In 2021, a season where the Blackhawks were forced to play an excess of rookies and inexperienced young players, Kane has seemingly been reinvigorated at a point in his career where he could easily begin to pack things in on an already distinguished career.
Colliton on Kane: "He's got a 1,000 more left, maybe."
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) March 9, 2021
Kane has three years left on his current deal with the Blackhawks through the 2022-23 season, when he’ll turn 34 years old. Assuming he plays every game possible with Chicago during that span of time, he’ll pass his way into third all-time in games played for the Blackhawks and could very well move into second all-time in points in franchise history.
It seems blasphemous to think that the Blackhawks wouldn’t do everything in their power to try to make sure that Kane plays his entire career with the organization. If the current trajectory of the team’s rebuild continues, and that is a HUGE if, Kane could be enticed to sign an extension and maybe see himself raising one more Stanley Cup in Chicago before his career is over. If Kane’s current trajectory continues, he may end up playing into his late-30’s or even his 40’s, and finish his career in the highest echelon of all-time NHL players.
