Let’s be honest, we all knew this was coming.
Evander Kane announced this morning that he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks. It was later announced that the Edmonton Oilers received a 2025 fourth-round pick in the upcoming draft.
Ohh, and the Oilers won’t retain any of Kane’s salary—the real win.
Kane has one year left on a five-year, $5.125 million AAV contract, having played four years in Edmonton following a terminated contract with the San Jose Sharks.
“I want to take a moment to sincerely thank the entire organization, my teammates, and the incredible community of Edmonton,” began Kane in a social media post that initially broke the news. “Your support meant everything, and I’ll always be grateful for the chance to compete in the blue and orange.
“To my teammates—thank you for the battles, the friendships, and the memories. I’ll always remember the playoff runs, the highs and lows, and the pride of going to war with a special group of guys.”
As Kane moves on to yet another NHL organization, let’s take a moment to examine his tenure with the Oilers by the numbers.
Kane played three seasons and four playoff runs with the Oilers, the best of which was his first year with the team in 2021-22, where he averaged 0.91 points per game in the regular season and 1.13 in the playoffs.
In total, Kane has accumulated 55 points in 97 playoff games with the Oilers, as well as 248 penalty minutes.
If it wasn’t for the NHL’s investigation on the Oilers’ use of cap relief for Evander Kane, those numbers might have been his lasting legacy with the club—aside from the regular season he missed in 2024-25.
Alas, retroactive punishment has a way of stanning ones memory, and this trade with the Canucks does not absolve the Oilers of any reprocutions.
“The trade of Evander Kane to the Canucks today will have no impact on the NHL’s ongoing investigation into the Oilers’ use of LTIR space for Kane last season,” confirmed Deputy Comisioner Bill Daly to ESPN.
The league is specifically investigating Kane’s knee surgery in January, which extended his return timeline to the beginning of the playoffs, allowing the Oilers to make a trade for Jake Walman on March 6.
Unless Kane will be facing punishment as well, the NHLs investigation does not affect the Canucks, who accuired a skilled player while relieving the Oilers of some salary cap issues for next season.
“I’m incredibly excited for the next chapter of my career as I join the Canucks,” added Kane. “It’s an honour to become part of an organization and team I grew up watching as a kid.
“Vancouver is a city that lives and breathes hockey. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to play in front of my hometown as I did many years ago as a Vancouver Giant.”
