Patrick Kane on Artemi Panarin's gift and possibility of reuniting with Blackhawks

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Patrick Kane and Artemi Panarin had one of the best on-ice chemistry you'll ever see between two hockey players with completely different backgrounds. They were a two-man show for the Blackhawks from 2015-17.

In each of those seasons, Panarin's cap hit was $812,500. But over the course of those two years, he racked up $5.375 million in performance bonuses. A big reason why he was able to unlock them was because he played on a line with Kane, who won the Art Ross and Hart Trophy in 2016 with 106 points.

When the Blackhawks were in Columbus on Oct. 20 this season, Panarin sent Kane a text to meet up the night before. Kane thought nothing of it, thinking it was going to be a nice time to reconnect. Until Panarin pulled out an expensive watch as a thank you to Kane for helping him hit those bonuses.

"It was a pretty special move by someone to do that," said Kane, who originally told ESPN's Emily Kaplan of the exchange for an upcoming feature. "Throughout the season you always joke around like, 'Oh, you hit some bonuses, what are you are going to give me?' Stuff like that. But you never really expect something like that to come of it. When I met up with him earlier this year I thought we were just meeting up to catch up. Didn't really know that was coming. It definitely took me back for sure."

With Panarin back in Chicago for the second and final meeting between the Blackhawks and Blue Jackets, early homecoming thoughts will certainly be in the air. At least for one night. 

There are nine days left until the trade deadline, and Panarin has made it clear he wants to test the open market on July 1. And that's 100 percent his right. Many would do the same thing. Whether or not he gets moved before Feb. 25 remains to be seen, but fans in Chicago can't help but think of the possibility of a potential Panarin return this summer with the Blackhawks expected to have lots of cap space.

Of course, Kane would love that too, but it's ultimately Panarin's decision and whether the team can financially make it work. Plus, the Blackhawks are in the middle of a playoff race, so it's not at the forefront of his mind right now.

"I don't know, we'll see what the situation comes to," Kane said about the possibility of playing with Panarin again. "Obviously we have a lot of season left here. I don't think you really find yourself thinking about it too much. Would it be great to play with him again? Yeah, obviously. But there's a lot for that to happen, whether he stays in Columbus, goes to free agency, goes to another team. It's his decision. [We'll] see what happens after the season."

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