If it felt like Patrick Kane took the Vladimir Tarasenko trade to the New York Rangers extra personally, it’s because Kane to New York was closer to happening than it appeared at the time.

“It’s not, like, the happiest I’ve been to hear about a trade,” Kane said, per Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports Chicago. “I think the Rangers are a team that you definitely pay attention to and definitely are intrigued by, for obvious reasons.”

Well, one hat trick, seven goals, 10 points and a little bit of patience later, Kane is more than just intrigued by the Rangers. The 34-year-old future Hall of Famer is a Blueshirt after all.

New York is expected to acquire Kane for a 2023 conditional second-round pick (which can become a first) and a 2023 fourth-round pick. The Arizona Coyotes will be used to take on a portion of Kane’s cap hit to make the deal compliant with league rules.

New York had to make several transactions just to get the numbers to work to add Kane. On Saturday, the Rangers unloaded fringe winger Vitali Kravtsov (three goals and six points in 28 games with the NHL club this season) and his $875,000 salary-cap hit to the Vancouver Canucks for prospect Will Lockwood and a seventh-round pick in 2026. They waived fourth-liner Jake Leschyshyn and sent down defenseman Braden Schneider on Sunday to clear cap space.

Kane, who had been with Chicago for his entire 16-season NHL career, waived his no-trade clause to join New York in a sort of bittersweet move as the star seeks one more Stanley Cup.

There were two big concerns of suitors when it came to Kane’s potential role on a Cup contender: the acquisition cost and his hip injury. Clearly, Kane wanted to make it work with the Rangers, as they were the only team he was interested in. That gave them tons of leverage, and they didn’t have to surrender another first-round pick. Doing that and shipping out players who struggled to stay in their stacked lineup was a big win.