3 reasons Evander Kane could be key for the Oilers at the trade deadline
As the Oilers look for ways to make a move ahead of the Mar. 8 trade deadline, there are several reasons why it would make sense to offload Evander Kane.
The NHL trade deadline is just four days away, but as yet the Edmonton Oilers have yet to make a move. However, don't mistake this for meaning they aren't still trying, as they look at the likes of a top-six forward, a top-four blue liner and tandem goalie.
Not that general manager and president of hockey operations Ken Holland wants to make a trade for the sake of it. During a recent Q&A with The Athletic's Daniel Nugent-Bowman, he said: "I’d like to do something between now and the deadline. Obviously, if you do something, you’re doing it because you like it. You’re not doing it because you don’t like it; you’re doing it because you like it."
The question is, who are the Oilers prepared to offload in order to upgrade the roster? We offer three reasons why they should give serious though to attempting to trade Evander Kane:
1) Salary cap hit
During the excellent Elliotte Friedman's latest Saturday headlines segment for Sportsnet, he mentioned the Oilers' focus ahead of the Mar. 8 deadline. More specifically, their need to free up some cap space in order to help facilitate any trades.
You can certainly appreciate this, given the current precarious situation surrounding the Oilers' salary cap. As per Cap Friendly, at the time of posting they are projected to have just $2,373,102 of cap space at the deadline.
Among those being mentioned include the likes of Cody Ceci and Warren Foegele, who have respective cap hits of $3.25 million and $2.75 million. Of course in an ideal world the Oilers would love to rid themselves of Jack Campbell and his $5 million cap hit, but short of a miracle this just isn't going to happen.
However, another potential option is Kane, who has a cap hit of $5.125 million. In addition, he still has two more seasons on his deal after this one, before becoming an unrestricted free agent.
What's interesting about Friedman's comments, is that the Oilers are apparently trying to find some more cap space prior to making any significant trades. However, you can make the case this is the wrong approach, as it only makes it more difficult to get another team to accept taking on board Kane, or whoever else.
Instead, our belief is that Kane, etc, should be included as part of any potential deal to upgrade the roster. Think last season's trade for Mattias Ekholm (and a sixth round draft pick), when the Oilers gave up Tyson Barrie and prospect Reid Schaefer, as well as a first round and fourth round draft pick.
It's going to take a similar kind of package for the Oilers' to bring in a player who will have a similar impact to Ekholm. Certainly if they want a team to take on the mercurial Kane.
Fortunately for the Oilers, they do have some intriguing assets to offer to interested parties, including first round draft picks. The can also offer prospects such as Philip Broberg or Dylan Holloway, who both have upside and arguably just need a change of scenery to fulfil their potential.
2) Declining productivity
When the Oilers took a chance on Kane back at the beginning of 2022, there were plenty of critics and with good reason. There was also a lot of concern about how a player who had worn out his welcome with three teams, would fit in in Edmonton.
However, also immediately the Vancouver native proved to be an excellent addition to the Oilers lineup. Of course it helps when you're getting to play alongside Connor McDavid, but his talent was on full display.
Kane excelled with 39 points in 43 games, while also setting career highs with a 14.5 percent shooting percentage and +25 rating. This form carried over to the playoffs with 17 points in 15 games, including his first two postseason hat-tricks, versus the Kings and Flames.
This form earned the winger a new deal and he started off the 2022-23 campaign better than ever, with 13 points in 14 games. Unfortunately for everyone concerned, he suffered a wrist injury which essentially caused him to miss half of the regular season.
When Kane finally came back he just wasn't the same as before, highlighted by managing only a further 15 points in 27 games. It was no different in the playoffs, with just five points in 12 games.
There was a theory that perhaps the former Winnipeg Jet had just returned to soon and wasn't entirely recovered from his surgery. In addition, that maybe the offseason would help in this respect.
Unfortunately for everyone concerned this hasn't been the case, with Kane's points-per-game production at its worst rate since he arrived in Edmonton. He's just been too inconsistent and his average time on ice is projected to be the worst since his rookie season in 2009-10, which ties into our third point.
3) Reported dressing room rift
Another aspect which has impacted Kane's erratic play, is a perceived inability to gel with Leon Draisaitl on the Oilers' second line. This theory was given live by a heated discussion between the two players on the bench during a recent game.
As a result of the lack of cohesion between the duo, Kane has also spent time playing on the third line, hence contributing to his decreased ice time. This has in turn resulted in him becoming increasingly frustrated.
In fact, as per Rupert McDonald of The Hockey Writers, this has led to reports that Kane is causing a rift in the Oilers' dressing room. Certainly you can understand why this speculation would be out there, given his past issues at various stops around the NHL.
However, there is the possibility any alleged rift has been blown out of proportion, because of the 2009 fourth overall draft pick's past. Certainly he's been a model citizen for the most part during his time in Edmonton, being active in the community and mentioning how grateful he is to the Oilers' organisation, for giving him a chance.
Further, it's entirely understandable why a talented player would be frustrated, given his lack of ice time. However, this frustration arguably also extends towards himself, with Kane's lack of production and inability to form a better partnership with Draisaitl.
Ironically, Draisaitl is probably the closest equivalent to Kane, when it comes to an Oilers player expressing their frustration or displeasure in such a visual manner. The difference is though, that the 2020 Hart Memorial Trophy winner has continually produced on the ice more consistently.
A peek into the TSN trade bait board. dark. Next. A peek into the TSN trade bait board
However, even taking all of this into account, the Oilers may well still be nervous that Kane could easily cause issues for a team focused on winning the Stanley Cup this season. And if there is any doubt about the player acting up in the face of adversity as he has done previously, maybe it is best to be on the safe side and move him.
Of course, there's the not so small matter of another team being willing to take on that risk. Overall though, when combined with the other two reasons, the Oilers are arguably best served aiming to trade Kane prior to the 1 p.m. MT deadline on Mar. 8.
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