4 things we heard from Patrick Kane, including the Chicago Blackhawks star’s reaction to Alex DeBrincat’s letter

Patrick Kane isn’t content with how the Chicago Blackhawks season started, but he’s cutting himself and the team some slack.

The Hawks opened the season with a three-game trip, starting with a banner-raising night that the champion Colorado Avalanche capped off with a 5-2 win. The Hawks followed with a 1-0 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights and a 5-2 win against the San Jose Sharks.

“I think we’ve gotten better pretty much every game,” Kane said after practice Tuesday at Fifth Third Arena. “(It was) tough. We started in Colorado last year as well, (and) it’s not the easiest place to start. That team’s training at altitude during all their training camp. And then you’ve got to come in and adjust a little bit.

“That wasn’t our best game, but I thought we played better in Vegas, we had some chances to tie it up. And then we played really well the first 10 minutes in San Jose, not as well in the last 10 minutes of the first, and then kind of took over the game in the second with scoring — Tazer’s (Jonathan Toews’) big goal — and a couple of short-handed goals as well.

“So hopefully we’re getting better and better as a team.”

Kane discussed a range of topics with reporters Tuesday. Here are four takeaways.

DeBrincat recently wrote a letter to Chicago fans for The Players’ Tribune, and two things stuck out.

One, he acknowledged hockey is a business, but it was “an emotional thing” when the Hawks traded him to the Ottawa Senators leading up to the NHL draft.

“I was ready to be a Blackhawk for a long time and be part of turning the ship around,” DeBrincat wrote. “I felt like I could have offered a lot in the future, but they didn’t see it like that and that’s all right. It’s not the first time a team hasn’t seen me the way I see me.”

The second thing that stood out to DeBrincat was a moment when Kane helped him rediscover his shooting touch during a practice at Notre Dame when “basically my game wasn’t in a good spot.”

“After practice, Kaner and I stayed on the ice and just sent one-timers back-and-forth for a bit and he helped me feel comfortable pretty quick,” DeBrincat wrote. “And we basically did that nearly every practice for the next five years. I think he wanted me to just be me.”

Kane said Tuesday he hadn’t read the letter yet, but he recalled that time in DeBrincat’s career.

“I remember there was a time where (coach Joel) Quenneville came up to me and was like, ‘You’ve got to teach this kid how to shoot the puck,’” Kane said. “And you know, I’m looking at (DeBrincat and) he scored three 50-goal (or) 60-goal seasons in the OHL, and I don’t know if he was nervous or what, but I remember just kind of talking to him about it.

“And now that’s one guy you don’t need to teach how to shoot the puck. He’s pretty special at that.”

DeBrincat scored 41 goals for the Hawks last season and was selected for his first All-Star Game.

“That was fun building that chemistry and friendship over the years,” Kane said.

When you’ve stuck around the league — let alone one team — for as long as Kane has, you’re going to see teammates come and go, but it stings a bit more when you’ve bonded with them on or off the ice.

Such was the case with Artemi Panarin and Nick Schmaltz and again with DeBrincat and Strome, Kane’s primary linemates last season.

The Hawks traded DeBrincat in the summer to stock the prospect pipeline with two high draft picks — which they used on defenseman Kevin Korchinski and forward Paul Ludwinski — and free up $6.4 million in cap space.

They didn’t extend a qualifying offer to Strome, and he landed with the Washington Capitals.

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“I talk to Alex every two or three days, so we stay in pretty close contact,” Kane said, “And Stromer, same thing, maybe once every five days to a week. It’s nice staying in touch with those guys.

“I was obviously pretty close when they were here, and kind of weird to be watching them on TV with different teams.”

Kane planned to watch DeBrincat in the Senators home opener Tuesday night against the Boston Bruins. Coincidentally, Strome and the Capitals’ next game is Thursday in Ottawa, which means a reunion of Erie Otters linemates.

“It’ll be fun to watch them and hoping for the best for both those guys,” Kane said. “Seems like they’ve gotten off to good starts.”

During training camp, Kane downplayed pervasive rumors that he was the subject of trade talks in the summer, but there’s no escaping what promises to be season-long speculation that this could be his last go-round in Chicago.

Even if Kane doesn’t allow the Hawks to trade him by the deadline, his and Toews’ contracts expire after the season. And the Hawks are knee-deep in a rebuild.

It’s natural to ask if Friday’s home opener against the Detroit Red Wings — and every game at the United Center this season — might carry extra sentimental value, knowing how the future could unfold.

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But Kane said he’s “just taking it day by day, not really thinking about that stuff too much.”

“This year, it’s definitely a goal of mine to just be more positive with everything,” he said, “and just enjoy playing hockey and being at the rink.”

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Last year after three road games to open the season, Kane had a goal and three assists. This season he has no goals and one assist, which came in the opener against the Avalanche.

Kane played with a mix of players last season, including DeBrincat, Kirby Dach and Brandon Hagel, who all play for different teams now. Kane’s current linemates, Max Domi and Andreas Athanasiou, are newcomers to the Hawks.

“Even going back two or three years, we don’t have many familiar faces around,” Kane said. “So it’s a lot of change over the past couple of seasons and especially this year, with a lot of us playing with new players, new coach giving you some new systems.

“So it’s been a little bit of an adjustment, but I think we’re up to speed now with each other and should just keep developing the chemistry.”

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The combination has yet to produce a goal in five-on-five, though the line has an expected-goals-for per 60 minutes of 2.19, according to naturalstattrick.com.

“Definitely lots of speed and talent and I think they just missed on a few,” coach Luke Richardson said. “Not having five or six points in the first three games is not an issue for us. They’re still getting opportunities and looks, like they’re almost going to break through for that opportunity.

“There’ll be one of those games it just naturally goes for them, and you’ll see them get three, four points one night.”