Red Wings' Kane Becoming Trade Candidate On Declining Team

It takes some time to come back from the injury Patrick Kane recovered from. His play isn't the reason why he's becoming a trade candidate for the Detroit Red Wings. What is starting to get him attention is the team's fall after their impressive start.

Like many others, I didn't think the hot start to the season for the Red Wings was sustainable, especially not with such a strong conference all fighting for playoff spots. Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Larkin led the scoring at a very high pace, but that fell off. Kane's signing came at a decent time with all of the injuries to the team, but he isn't the difference maker he once was. Don't get me wrong, he can still produce, but he can't single-handedly change the outcome of a game like he used to on the Chicago Blackhawks in his prime.

The Red Wings have now fallen out of a playoff spot and have more games played than the other teams fighting for positioning in the standings around them. The team has lost four in a row in regulation and has only one win in the past eight games. As they fall in the standings with no indication that they can turn it around with the other teams settling in, the Red Wings will start looking ahead to sell.

I don't think that Kane is in any danger of being traded well before the trade deadline, but if the Red Wings are where they are right now or worse off, Kane will once again be a hot commodity at the trade deadline to add some middle-six scoring to a playoff team. His contract isn't that much this season and he is a UFA at the end of the year. The Red Wings can get a little bit of assets to help get themselves in contention for real next season.