'The Kaner Effect' Opens the Door for the Detroit Red Wings' Playoff Return

Patrick Kane Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

In less than three months, Patrick Kane has already delivered an impressive return on investment for the Detroit Red Wings.

The man they call ‘Showtime’ has 28 points in 27 games and is trending in the right direction. After missing seven games with a lower-body injury before the all-star break, Kane returned with 12 points in eight games in February. At 35, he’s leading his team in scoring this month, and three of his five goals have been game-winners — including that overtime breakaway beauty in Chicago on Sunday.

As the Red Wings open a three-game homestand against the Washington Capitals on Tuesday, expect another sellout crowd at Little Caesars Arena.

“We call it ‘The Kaner Effect,’ ” said Detroit captain Dylan Larkin following another Kane OT-winner last Thursday against one-time fierce conference rivals the Colorado Avalanche, per Sam Stockton of THN’s Detroit team site. “You notice that the top of the upper bowl is full every night.”

Larkin’s not wrong. Little Caesars Arena opened one year after the Wings’ 25-year streak of consecutive post-season appearances ended in 2016. After a string of announced sellouts of 19,515 through that inaugural season, the numbers started to dip as the pandemic hit and the playoff misses accumulated, according to hockeydb.com.

This year, only two of Detroit’s first 12 games were sold out: the home-opener against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Oct. 14 and a 4-0 shutout of the New Jersey Devils on Thanksgiving eve, Nov. 22.

Detroit started the season with a decent record of 11-6-3. But everything changed as soon as the team announced on Nov. 29 that Kane had been signed to a one-year deal with a cap hit of $2.75 million.

The impact at the box office was immediate, with a sellout against Chicago on Nov. 30, even though Kane needed a little more time to get game-ready and didn’t make his Detroit debut until Dec. 7. Since that day, the Red Wings have played 17 home games, and 16 have been to capacity crowds.

Most nights, those crowds have gone home happy. The Kane era started out 0-3-1 on home ice, but since Dec. 22, the Red Wings have been 9-2-2 at the barn known as LCA.

Kane’s contract is prorated because he missed the first six weeks of the season, so he’ll actually be paid about $2 million in real dollars this year.

It’s not exactly a hardship for the 2016 Hart Trophy winner, whose career earnings to date are estimated at more than $120 million, per PuckPedia. But if the Red Wings average even an extra 750 tickets sold for their 29 home games with Kane on the roster at their average ticket price of $91, ‘The Kaner Effect’ will have been revenue-positive even before factoring in additional money-makers like jersey sales, food and beverages — and playoff tickets.

Heading into this week’s homestand, the Red Wings hold the first Eastern Conference wild-card spot and are seven points clear of the playoff cut line. Their 6-2-0 record over the last eight games has also likely encouraged GM Steve Yzerman to use his salary-cap flexibility to add another piece or two to his roster before the March 8 trade deadline.

As good as Kane has been in his career, what he’s doing right now is unprecedented. He looks poised to set a new standard for NHL players coming back from hip-resurfacing surgery.

Here’s the history:

Only two players have made it back to play any games — Ed Jovanovski, all the way back in 2014, and Nicklas Backstrom from Jan. 8 to Oct. 29, 2023.

Backstrom is one year older than Kane, and his comeback was halted when he announced in November that he was temporarily stepping away from hockey to focus on his health. He’s currently listed on long-term injured reserve and is under contract with the Washington Capitals for one more season after this.

Kane has played 27 games for Detroit since December, and the Red Wings have 24 games remaining in the regular season. His 28 points have already surpassed Backstrom’s production — and he has moved the excitement needle more, too. If he stays healthy, the three-time Stanley Cup champion could also set a new games-played benchmark by the end of the regular season, then become the first hip-resurfacing recipient ever to suit up for an NHL playoff game.

If the NHL’s second-longest playoff drought gets snapped this spring at Little Caesars Arena, that feel-good story would be icing on the cake.

As Larkin said when describing ‘The Kaner Effect,’ “It’s just a lot of fun right now.”