CHICAGO – The Chicago Blackhawks introduced a teenager who they hope can do something the team has struggled with in the last few years: put the puck in the net.

“He’s going to be a great player for a long time in this organization,” head coach Denis Savard said Monday of Patrick Kane, an 18-year-old Buffalo, N.Y. native who was the first overall pick of the NHL entry draft.

The Blackhawks are in desperate need of someone who can put up offensive numbers, after finishing last season with the second-worst offense in the NHL.

Kane led the Ontario Hockey League in scoring last season with 62 goals and 83 assists in 58 games with the London Knights – statistics Savard pointed to as he dismissed concerns about the size of the 5-foot-10, 165-pound right wing.

“Numbers don’t lie,” Savard said of Kane, who also had five goals and four assists in seven games for the United States during the World Junior Championships. “He has a lot of skill. I think overall, he does everything well offensively. The biggest thing with him is how quick his hands are around the net.”

Kane, who donned the number 88 Blackhawks sweater during Monday’s introduction, said he welcomes whatever pressure comes with being an offensive player on a team that needs so much help.

“There’s obviously some pressure with that pick, but the way I see it, I’m more of a pressure player and kind of thrive under the pressure situations,” he said.

The first pressure situation will come soon when Kane tries to win a spot on the Blackhawks roster when they open the season in October.

Savard said he thinks Kane is ready to do just that.

“From the people that I gathered information from in the hockey business, they tell me he’s ready to play (in the NHL),” he said.

That’s good news for Kane.

“I would love to make the team,” he said. “It would be a disappointment if I didn’t.”