Which teams could land Patrick Kane?

As of July 3, Patrick Kane is the second-highest ranked player on Daily Faceoff managing editor Matt Larkin’s top unrestricted free agents of 2026.

The 37-year-old winger had 16 goals and 41 assists for 57 points in 67 games with the Detroit Red Wings last season. Kane, who has exactly 1,400 regular-season points across 19 NHL campaigns, is still producing as a top-six forward and could be a valuable option for teams looking to improve their offense in 2026-27.

On Friday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discuss Kane’s value and which team may be the best fit for him next season.

Tyler Yaremchuk: It sounds like Kane and Detroit are ready to move on from one another. He’s made a lot of money, and if he’s resuming his career, and all indications are that he is, he’s going to go somewhere where he he has a chance to win.

I think there are a couple of sports that are competitive and could use the power-play help, maybe a bit of a scoring bump. The one team that I think still stands out, and this is low-hanging fruit, I get it, but the Buffalo Sabres lost Alex Tuch, they don’t really replace him with a veteran in that top-nine forward group. They have a lot of really good young pieces, but they’re also relatively tight to the cap. I could see them going and giving Kane a nice bonus-incentive deal, and bringing him in to replace some of that scoring that they lost with Tuch.

Is there anywhere else you like for Kane? Or is it just Buffalo?

Carter Hutton: I feel like it’s Buffalo. Maybe those numbers could work with the Toronto Maple Leafs? With the amount of money he’s made in his career, it’s clear he wants to win.

Buffalo has always made the most sense to me … because of Kane and his relationship with Buffalo, he’s a prideful Western New York guy. That relationship was frayed in his younger years, when he was partying and getting himself in trouble. I think for him, this could be a very good homecoming, especially for a team that’s trying to win.

If it was a bonus-incentive deal, kind of like Alex Ovechkin’s deal with the Washington Capitals, where you can kick it down the road, it wouldn’t hurt the Sabres as much in this star-studded Atlantic Division.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…