Patrick Kane on Kris Versteeg: ‘He’s better than ever’

Patrick Kane likes what he’s seeing from Kris Versteeg.

“He’s better than ever, to be honest,’’ Kane said. “He’s great with the puck, hanging on to the puck, good in battle areas, finding himself open, finding other players open. He’s been awesome pretty much the whole year.”

Kane credits Jonathan Toews’ line with drawing attention and creating room for him, Versteeg and center Brad Richards. But they certainly are capitalizing — especially a healthy Versteeg.

“It’s nice to see the work you put in coming to fruition,’’ Versteeg said.

Looking Sharp

Coach Joel Quenneville smiled when asked how he’ll decide to find a slot when winger Patrick Sharp is ready to return.

“We like tough decisions like that,’’ Quenneville said. “Sharp gives us a lot of options, a lot of different places to play. We’ll see when we get there.’’

One-timers

Defenseman Brent Seabrook missed practice Tuesday because of an illness but is expected to play against the Blues.

◆ Antti Raanta is 1-2 with a 2.03 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage.

◆ The Hawks were still mulling their call-up to dress behind Raanta, but a logical choice would be Scott Darling.

The 6-6, 232-pound Lemont native is 2-1 with a 1.98 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage in three appearances with the Hawks.