Patrick Kane slumped in his locker stall, tugged at his gray Blackhawks cap and faced reality.
Kane looked defeated after the team’s latest loss, a 3-2 decision Saturday against the Blue Jackets.
Kane sounded defeated, too, when talking about the potential losses the Hawks could endure before Monday’s 2 p.m. trade deadline.
“It will be a different situation,” Kane said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen … but you probably have to figure, one way or another, this is probably the last time this group is going to be together.
“We’ll see what happens. … Probably be paying attention not only to our team, but around the league.”
The Hawks were 11 points and four teams out of the second Western Conference wild-card spot after Saturday’s deflating defeat, during which they twice held the lead.
Their chances of making the playoffs for the 10th straight season are less than 1 percent, according to hockey-reference.com. They basically would need to win 17 of their final 19 games — and get help from teams ahead of them — to have a shot.
“That’s how we are thinking, but I don’t want to go there,” coach Joel Quenneville said of trying to remain optimistic.
And he has no desire to be here, in this position, throwing around words such as “spoiler” at the trade deadline.
Quenneville never has had a losing season in 20 years as an NHL head coach. The Hawks are 26-27-8. Only twice have Quenneville-coached teams failed to make the playoffs.
The Hawks had won three of four before Saturday, but an eight-game skid preceded that mini-streak.
“I just want to try to win one game,” Quenneville said. “Knowing that’s the reality, knowing if we go on more than an amazing run, that’s what it will take.”
Barring any miracles on ice, the Hawks are playing for next season. And that means younger players likely will be on the ice more.
Beginning Monday, teams can add as many players to their active rosters as they would like, as long as they do not go over the salary cap. As of Sunday, the Hawks were about $3.9 million under the cap.
Players such as Tommy Wingels, Jan Rutta or maybe even Patrick Sharp, all due to be unrestricted free agents, could be moved to add to the seven picks the Hawks have in this year’s draft.
The Hawks traded defenseman Michal Kempny to the Capitals last week for a conditional third-round pick.
General manager Stan Bowman has made clear he wants to make the team younger.
“The cap wasn't so much a problem this year,” he said. “It was more ... if you're going to make a trade, you’ve got to take someone out of the lineup. Our younger players were playing good. That's one of the things we're not looking to (do), bring in a veteran to replace those guys.”
While Bowman understands a product of that approach may be a year such as this, he doesn’t intend to evade the standards set by the team’s three championships since 2010.
“I think expectations are good,” Bowman said. “I don't think you can't run from them because who wants to be around where people don't expect you to do well?”
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