Nine-time All-Star forward Patrick Kane returned to practice on Thursday with the Detroit Red Wings after being sidelined with an upper-body injury since Oct. 17.
He practiced on his usual forward line with Marco Kasper and Alex DeBrincat, and also on the first power-play unit.
Kane, who turns 37 on Nov. 19, was not ready to say he will play in a game this weekend. The Red Wings host the New York Rangers on Friday night and the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday afternoon.
“We’ll see,” Kane told reporters after Thursday’s practice. “I’m feeling pretty good. It was nice to get back into practice with the team today. Other than that, I feel pretty good and we’ll go from there.
“We’ll see how it is (Friday). I don’t think there’s any real decision on when I’m back or anything like that.”
Kane crashed into the boards late in Detroit’s 2-1 overtime win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Oct. 17.
In his third season with the Red Wings and 19th overall in the NHL, Kane was off to a strong start with five points (two goals, three assists) in five games. He signed a one-year, $3 million deal on June 30.
Kane had been skating on his own for a couple of weeks and said he felt progress in the last “four or five days.”
“I was pretty confident I was going to be able to get through a practice and skate with the team,” Kane said. “But you never know until you get into it, so I’m happy I was able to do that and participate and go the whole way.”
Red Wings coach Todd McLellan said he checked on Kane a couple of times on Thursday.
“He said he felt pretty good, so I think that’s positive. But that decision will be made tomorrow when we get a little more information,” McLellan said.
Kane has 494 goals and 854 assists (1,348 points) in 1,307 career regular-season games with the Blackhawks (2007-23), Rangers (2023) and Red Wings. He won three Stanley Cups with Chicago and became the first American player to win the Hart Memorial Trophy (league MVP) and the Art Ross Trophy (leading point-scorer).
The first overall pick of the 2007 NHL Draft by Chicago, Kane is 27 points from passing Mike Modano (1,374) for the most by a U.S.-born player.
