Mike Modano has officially called it quits retiring from the National Hockey League yesterday. Drafted 1st overall in the 1988 draft, he spent 21 seasons in the NHL, 19 of them with the Minnesota North Stars/Dallas Stars where he won his first and only Stanley Cup in 1999. Modano is the all-time US scoring champion and is considered to be the best American born hockey player, but now that he’s retired, is Patrick Kane the next best US born hockey player?

Like Modano, Patrick Kane was also drafted #1 overall in the 2007 NHL draft by the Chicago Blackhawks. He grew up idolizing Mike Modano, played hockey outside imitating his moves, and always wanted to follow his footsteps in his path to the NHL. “My greatest memories of him are flying up and down the ice and scoring a lot of power-forward goals. He seemed to overpower defenses with his shot.” Modano intimidated defenders with his shot similar to Kane who has some of the best hands in the league today.

Let’s dive into statistics really quick and check out some notable comparisons between Mike Modano and Patrick Kane through their first 4 NHL seasons: