The Chicago Blackhawks will retire Patrick Kane’s jersey one day, but because professional hockey is a business, he’ll almost certainly be traded away from the Windy City first.

Kane remains a superior offensive talent at age 33. The combination of his contract expiring after this season, and the Blackhawks in the midst of a full rebuilding mode just about guarantees the Hawks braintrust will try to acquire some younger talent or some draft picks in exchange for Kane prior to this season’s trading deadline.

Chicago started its fire sale in the offseason, unloading high-scoring Alex DeBrincat and former first- round pick Kirby Dach, and letting Dominik Kubalik and Dylan Strome leave as free agents. The carrot, of course, is 17-year- old superstar-to-be Connor Bedard of the Regina Pats, eligible for next summer’s draft.

The Hawks hope they can maximize their chances of getting the first overall pick by being as bad as possible this season. With Bedard in the lineup, along with talent and draft picks acquired in various trades, Chicago’s return to respectability could happen quite quickly.

So, is Kane a goner for sure? Without a doubt. The Hawks are not going to let Kane play out his contract in what will be a dismal season, and then let him walk away as a free agent next summer.

They’ll wait in February or early March for the phone to ring from teams with Stanley Cup dreams and offering untold riches to the Blackhawks in exchange for 25 or 30 games — plus a long playoff run — from Kane.

The Buffalo native is generally regarded as one of the top two or three American-born hockey players of all time (Mike Modano, Pat Lafontaine, Auston Matthews and Brian Leetch are in the conversation).

He was part of three Stanley Cup-winning teams in Chicago, won a scoring championship, an MVP trophy and a Conn Smythe (playoff MVP) award in his illustrious career after being the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2007.

He owes Chicago nothing, but the Hawks owe it to him to send him to a team with a chance for another Cup, while bolstering their own future at the same time.

The Hockey News suggested four potential landing sites for Kane, including his home town of Buffalo, the resurgent Detroit Red Wings, defending champion Colorado Avalanche and, of course, Toronto Maple Leafs, who would love to shake that “no Cup since 1967” label from the front of their sweaters.

Other sources suggest New York Rangers, already a Cup contender, might be a perfect fit for Kane.

Wherever he goes, it will be anything but an acrimonious departure from Chicago. The trade announcement will feature smiles all around, from Kane, the Hawks and the receiving team. Besides the big smile on their faces, the Hawks management will have their fingers crossed that the strategy of being Bad for Bedard pays off.

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• Steve Simmons of SunMedia: “Watching Josh Allen play quarterback against Patrick Mahomes is a little like having Elvis Presley open a concert for Frank Sinatra. You don’t know what you’re going to see or hear — you just know it’s going to be spectacular.”

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• Bruce Penton