How Kane, Hawks are adjusting on PP without DeBrincat

COLORADO — Patrick Kane prides himself on being able to play with anybody. Sure, he would appreciate some linemate consistency but he always takes it upon himself to never skip a beat, no matter who he’s playing with.

Kane is in the process of developing some early chemistry with Andreas Athanasiou and Max Domi, but he’s also trying to adjust to a new power play unit that doesn’t include Alex DeBrincat. And that’s going to take some time getting used to.

“It’s going to be a different power play this year,” Kane told NBC Sports Chicago. “I think we’re working to try and figure out what exactly we want to do. We’ve had a lot of conversations, talking back and forth with guys like Max [Domi] and Andreas [Athanasiou] and [Jonathan Toews] and [Seth Jones]. It’s been good.

“Hopefully I’ll figure it out because it’s going to be a big part of the reason we have success this year is going to be the special teams, right? The penalty kill looks like it’s going to be a little bit different and a little more aggressive and I think that’ll help us. And if we can figure out what we want to do on the power play, I think it’ll make for outcomes of games a lot more interesting.”

Over the last three seasons, Kane has logged 686:45 minutes on the power play, per Natural Stat Trick. He’s been on the ice with DeBrincat for 606:34 of those minutes. That’s nearly 90 percent of Kane’s ice time.

The biggest adjustment won’t just be not having DeBrincat on the left side. It’s the fact Kane might not have a right-handed shot — a one-timer trigger man — like he’s used to, whether it was with DeBrincat, Artemi Panarin or Patrick Sharp. 

For the majority of camp, Domi was slotted in at the left faceoff circle. He’s a left-handed shot, which adds a different dimension.

“It’s different for everyone,” Domi said. “When you have not only two lefties, but often three lefties in our case — three guys across the middle, the guy in the slot being a lefty as well — it’s a totally different dynamic. Not to say one’s better than the other but it’s definitely different, so when you’re used to doing it one way for so long, there’s going to be a big adjustment period. He’s a good enough player to make those adjustments and so are we, so I’m sure we’ll be able to figure it out here.”

One thing the Blackhawks are emphasizing this season is getting more shots from the point. They went the entire 2021-22 campaign without a power-play goal from a defenseman and it’s something that really bothered Jones, specifically.

Kane might be feeding Jones more pucks this season, although the Blackhawks are going to need net-front presence in order for it to be effective.

“That’s another important thing about the power play and something we haven’t really had so much the last few years is a really good net-front guy,” Kane said. “Actually, [Carl] Soderberg was really good at it. [Dylan Strome] was more of a down-low guy, which worked well for us too but I think if we’re trying to get more shots from the point, there needs to be a guy in front of the net. If you’re just shooting from the point and nobody’s in front, it’s kind of a pointless shot. 

“You look at all the power plays we’ve had that we’ve had success, whether it was [Artem] Anisimov or Soderberg or [Troy] Brouwer was really good at it, [Tomas] Kopecky was good at it too, just standing in front, you’re not really tipping the pucks, you’re just screening the goalie and then you have guys bombing away from the top like [Brent] Seabrook or Jonesy or whoever it is. It can really create some havoc, score on that shot, get rebounds, just kind of put the penalty kill in a little bit of a panic mode instead of just setting up and being ready for what’s going on.”

One look we could see more of this season is Kane on the left faceoff circle, where players like Auston Matthews and Connor McDavid have played in the past. It would give him an opportunity to tee-up Domi or whoever is playing on the right side for a one-timer, but also allows Kane to utilize his shot more.

The Blackhawks actually had success with Kane in that spot during the 2020 postseason in the Edmonton bubble, with Dominik Kubalik on the right side.

“I don’t mind it actually,” Kane said. “I think it’s a good way to come down hill with a little bit of motion and be able to get your shot off a little bit easier because the puck’s on the opposite side of your body, away from the middle of the ice and you can pull it in and shoot it.”

Towards the end of training camp, the Blackhawks experimented with a different look. They put Taylor Raddysh in the bumper role and Tyler Johnson on the left faceoff circle, giving Kane two shooting options — three if you include Jones at the point.

“It’s kind of like Washington, right?” Head coach Luke Richardson said, referencing the Capitals’ three righties with Alex Ovechkin, T.J. Oshie and John Carlson. “You’ve got to have some movement, a little bit more movement. I think it’s a good move and a logical move to put those righties in there for a passer like Patrick Kane to have opportunities to score.”

Johnson played the bumper role last season, but he’s actually spent more time in his career at the left faceoff circle. It’s a spot he’s comfortable in.

“Kaner is such a good player that if you get open, he finds you,” Johnson said. “It’s common sense in a way. The way we have it set up right now, everyone has a shot and Kaner’s kind of the dishing guy. It’s a good setup. It’s going to be one of those things that we’re going to have to get adjusted a little bit and know where each other’s at but hopefully that’s pretty quick.”

On Monday, the Blackhawks made another little tweak. Kane and Johnson swapped sides, with Kane posting up at the left circle and Johnson on the right.

Richardson, however, indicated it was more-so for entry purposes. It’s easier for Kane to enter the zone from the left side because he’s on his forehand as opposed to the right side.

“A lot of times if we do get in that position and can get set up clean, that’s the time when you can move around and switch positions,” Richardson said. “You can’t do it until you’re set up and that’s been a bit of our problem in exhibition games. We’re so literal trying to get to where we think we should be, instead of a spot. It’s not your spot, it’s a spot until we can get set up, and then we can move to the spots where we can be more comfortable and design and create plays off of that.

“Until you do that, if you go too early, teams are jumping us, we get frustrated, they send the puck down, you have to break it out again. That’s what we were talking about and working on today.”

The Blackhawks will obviously continue to toy around with a bunch of different options throughout the season, but it’s been an interesting process watching them have to come up with creative ways to become an effective unit with DeBrincat no longer in the picture. DeBrincat and Kane had been the power-play staples for years and were entry machines.

So yeah, give it time for things to click. Heck, Kane didn’t rule out the idea of not really having permanent stations altogether.

“It could be just a power play where you’re just playing a 5-on-5 mentality,” Kane said. “There’s no set spots, you’re just looking for the open space, an open guy, try to get a guy in front and try to create some havoc. We’ll keep talking about it and hopefully figure it out.”

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