Patrick Kane underwent hip resurfacing surgery Thursday and is expected to miss four to six months.
Agent Pat Brisson confirmed Kane’s operation in a text message to The Associated Press. The extended absence appears to rule out Kane for an NHL training camp but means he may be able to return early in the regular season.
Kane, 34, has been dealing with a nagging hip injury that hampered him over the past year with the Blackhawks and then down the stretch and in the playoffs with the New York Rangers.
Brisson expects Kane to make a full recovery. It was not immediately clear how the surgery impacts Kane’s impending free agency, though Brisson said they’d consider options if the prolific winger does not have a contract on July 1.
The priority, Brisson said, is that the surgery was successful. He told Sportsnet, which first reported the operation, that Kane wants to keep playing for a long time.
Kane might get that chance if the surgery allows him to return to his previous form. Second only to Mike Modano in scoring among U.S.-born players with 1,237 points, Kane was one of the centerpieces of the Blackhawks’ Stanley Cup-winning teams in 2010, ‘13 and ‘15 and won the Hart Trophy as league MVP in 2016.
As recently as the 2021-22 season, Kane was more than a point-a-game player even amid the Blackhawks’ struggles, putting up 26 goals and 66 assists in 78 games.
Kane had six points on a goal and five assists in New York’s seven-game first-round series loss to New Jersey after the Rangers acquired him before the trade deadline.
