The NHL Network ranked Chicago Blackhawks winger Patrick Kane the fourth best winger in the NHL entering the 2018-19 season on Sunday.
Last year, Kane took the top spot after being the top scoring winger. This year’s No. 1 winger is Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov after he was one spot behind Kane in 2017.
The network has rolled out rankings for each position group throughout the league this month.
Here are the full rankings:
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— NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) August 20, 2018
Last season with the Hawks, Kane recorded 27 goals and 76 points in 82 games.
“He’s a top-10 talent for sure and he’s been doing it for a really long time,” NHL Network analyst Mike Johnson said, “It’s no surprise to see him this high on the list, and maybe Chicago had a bit of a down year, maybe even Patrick Kane had a bit of a down year last year, but he’ll be back because he is one of the most talented players in the NHL.”
It was the second straight season Kane saw a drop in production with 89 and 106 points the previous two seasons, respectively. Kane’s 76 points ranked 13th among all NHL wingers.