Essentially the most stirring moments for Patrick Kane got here within the pregame warm-up and participant introductions, which is a sign of how issues went on his first night time taking part in for the Rangers. Kane skated onto the ice at Madison Sq. Backyard a few half-hour earlier than the opening face-off on Thursday, and followers greeted him with a standing ovation, holding up indicators of appreciation and cheering his each transfer till he skated off.
“It’s a particular place to play,” Kane mentioned after the sport. “Unique Six franchise, New York Rangers, taking part in at M.S.G. And to get a reception like that, it’s one thing I’ll always remember.”
Kane mentioned his new Ranger teammates had whispered to him earlier than the sport, letting him in on what they knew was coming. Even the opposing Ottawa Senators, like the previous Ranger Derick Brassard, observed the enthusiastic reception as they warmed up on the different finish of the ice.
“It was fairly cool for us to see the ovation that he bought within the warm-ups,” mentioned Brassard, who performed in his 1,000th sport. “It’s going to take a while for them to get the chemistry collectively.”
Kane, 34, is the most recent celebrity to hitch the Blueshirts of their 30s or late 20s, including to a listing that features Mark Messier, Wayne Gretzky, Pavel Bure, Eric Lindros, Jaromir Jagr, Luc Robitaille and Phil Esposito.
However on an evening that was imagined to have fun the arrival of this new Ranger, an previous Ranger spoiled the festivities as Brassard scored twice within the Senators 5-3 win over the Rangers, placing a small damper on excessive expectations.
Kane appeared barely nervous or rusty at occasions, turning the puck over or failing to corral it as deftly as he usually does. A number of occasions he declined open pictures in favor of an additional move, to the dismay of followers, who screamed for him to shoot every time he had area.
However with 446 targets and 779 assists in 1,162 profession video games, Kane is as a lot a playmaker as a scorer — as expert with the puck on his stick as anybody over the previous 16 seasons, since he was drafted No. 1 general by Chicago in 2007 and emerged as among the best American-born gamers within the historical past of the N.H.L.
It has been a superb profession to this point, with three Stanley Cup championships, a Calder Trophy because the league’s greatest rookie and a Hart Trophy as its most useful participant in 2016 as he turned the primary American to win that award.
“I believe our group loves having him,” mentioned Gerard Gallant, the Rangers coach. “Too unhealthy it didn’t go nicely tonight, however he’s an amazing addition for our group.”
The Rangers acquired Kane from Chicago in a three-team take care of Arizona on Tuesday that didn’t price them a lot. Chicago bought the minor league participant Andy Welinski, a conditional second-round draft decide in 2023 and a fourth-round decide in 2025, and the Coyotes bought a conditional third-round decide in 2025.
In return, the Rangers bought a legend. After taking part in his whole profession in Chicago, Kane grew uninterested in the rebuilding and needed to be a Ranger. Since Chicago final gained the Stanley Cup in 2015, they’ve misplaced within the first spherical of the playoffs or missed them totally. The Rangers are seen to be stepping into the correct course.
As with most groups and their supporters, the Rangers love the megastars, and already some followers wore brand-new Ranger shirts with Kane’s No. 88 and his identify. Jack Walsh, 30, an accountant initially from Albany, mentioned he bought his jersey on Wednesday on the N.H.L.’s retailer in Manhattan. As an upstate New Yorker, he has lengthy admired Kane, who’s from Buffalo.
“It’s fairly superior that he’s right here,” Walsh mentioned. “I hope it really works. However you by no means know.”
The loss was somewhat sobering for the followers. However the commerce was not about one night time, and Kane left the constructing feeling good, realizing that he was lastly a Ranger, and that after he finds the chemistry together with his new teammates within the coming weeks, wins are more likely to observe.
“It’s not one thing that’s going to occur in a single day,” he mentioned, “however we’ll discover it.”
He doesn’t have lengthy. The Rangers, in sixth place within the Jap Convention, have 20 video games left to play within the common season and if something, the defeat in Kane’s first sport supplied a small measure of warning to the euphoria over his arrival forward of the N.H.L. commerce deadline on Friday.
It appeared that the commerce, which appeared months within the making, may not occur after the Rangers acquired Vladimir Tarasenko from the St. Louis Blues on Feb. 9. It was then that Kane’s curiosity within the Rangers turned clear, as a result of he publicly lamented that Tarasenko was headed to New York as a substitute of him.
“It wasn’t like I used to be extraordinarily mad concerning the scenario once they made the transfer for Tarasenko,” Kane mentioned Thursday morning after a short skate. “It didn’t seem to be it was nonetheless within the playing cards to nonetheless be an choice for me. Now, I’m clearly very completely happy they made that transfer and each of us are right here. I’m excited to play with Vladdy.”
There may be hope about Kane reuniting with Artemi Panarin, his former linemate in Chicago when Panarin performed there from 2015 to 2017. Kane gained the Hart Trophy of their first 12 months collectively and Panarin gained the Calder. Gallant had them on the identical line once more on Thursday, and even amid the flakes of rust, there have been additionally moments of cross-ice telepathy.
The Rangers, who’ve misplaced 5 of their final seven video games, envision they’re far better-positioned now to problem the mighty Boston Bruins within the East. Boston leads the league with 48 victories and have gained their final 9 video games. The groups will meet on Saturday afternoon in Boston because the Rangers look to resurrect their playoff ambition.
Kane and Tarasenko are actually a giant a part of that ambition, and that has electrified Rangers followers. However there may be one other aspect to the commerce. Many Chicago followers have been unhappy to see Kane depart. A handful confirmed up on the Backyard on Thursday of their crimson sweaters bearing Kane’s identify and quantity, together with Melanie DeCaprio, a nurse from exterior New Haven and a longtime Kane fan.
“It’s bittersweet,” she mentioned. “After I first noticed him on the ice, my abdomen sank. I’m glad I can come see him play extra usually. But it surely’s exhausting to see him in one other jersey.”