Patrick Kane is off to Switzerland.
That’s the news out of Chicago on Tuesday as the ‘Hawks star has agreed to join Swiss league team EHC Biel on a lockout deal.
The news was made official on the Biel website, uniting Kane with Bruins forward Tyler Seguin, who signed with the Swiss club in late September.
The signing comes at a peculiar time. Last week, Kane told the Chicago Sun-Times he was holding off on signing overseas to “see what happens with the [CBA] negotiations.”
The 23-year-old was hopeful the NHL and NHLPA would come to an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement, but appears to have done an about-face in light of stalled talks.
With Kane and Seguin in the lineup, Biel will rival other Swiss league clubs boasting dynamic (and locked-out) NHL duos -- most notably HC Davos, currently employing San Jose Sharks center Joe Thornton and New York Rangers winger Rick Nash.
UPDATE: Kane’s also announced the signing via Twitter...Excited and thankful to join EHC Biel in the Swiss league. Looking forward to the experience
— Patrick Kane (@88PKane) October 23, 2012Of note, Kane is the fifth ‘Hawk to sign overseas during the lockout, joining Bryan Bickell (Austria), Michael Frolik (Czech Extraliga), Viktor Stalberg (Swedish Elite League) and Michal Roszival (Czech Extraliga).