The Curious Case Of Evander Kane

In my relatively new career as a journalist and covering sports, I have chosen not to cover an athlete's off-ice (or field) personal life. Unless I have solid, verified, independently sourced info from multiple people I will not speculate on behavior perceived to be distasteful or unwelcomed by the public.

In the case of Evander Kane, he has his fair share of detractors who have followed him around his entire career. For good reasons or not, I cannot speak too intelligently. But there are some facts I do believe to be ignored by these detractors who are to my eye being irresponsibly flippant with what they claim on places like X.

I don't know Evander Kane, but I did work at the Fraserview Golf course in Vancouver B.C. one summer which he and his friends frequented. I met him that summer briefly in an exchange I doubt he remembers, but I can tell you that he struck me as a regular dude, down to earth, nice guy and my range rat colleagues felt the same way.

Whatever your experience with him is and whether you like him or not I cannot change, Oiler fan or otherwise, nor can I tell you how to feel personally. But what I can tell you is this.

Kane has a full no move clause that carries through until February 28th of 2025 at which point it becomes a modified no trade list consisting of 16 teams. What I can't say for certain is who will be among those teams, but I can infer some logic based on experience and researching the league landscape.

I doubt that San Jose would be on the list because San Jose has terminated a contract of his in the past, therefore it would be a safe assumption that they would not re-acquire him in the future making them a wasted pick to submit to his agent for the clause.

I do think at this stage of his career just like most hockey players he would like to win a Stanley Cup before he has to hang them up, and considering his health status which we will elaborate on further in the words to come, the closing of that window is fast approaching according to conventional wisdom. Therefore, I think it's reasonable to assume that the list will be populated by teams who are seemingly unlikely to make the playoffs. This circumstance by the way is incredibly rare and adds an interesting layer for media members and fans alike to cover as the deadline approaches which is expected to be Friday, March 7th, 2025. At that point, Kane can look at the standings and submit 16 teams (15 if we assume EDM is in the playoffs) with virtual certainty that he'll be bound for a team heading to the post-season. I expect a ton of coverage of this narrative to present itself as we get closer to that date.

If this is indeed the case, this makes the likelihood of a trade very, very difficult. We're talking about a player disliked by much of the public, a declining skillset due to injury (which in my opinion the jury is still out on), a $5,125,000 cap hit and at least one documented case of a teammate throwing his clothes in the shower for a dress code violation.

All of this considered would make this asset a difficult one to move. A contender that could use his intangibles while tolerating some of the (alleged) behavior cannot afford his cap hit and an up and coming team who can is unlikely to tolerate these (alleged) behaviors around their young players whom they are developing and maturing into professionals.

I completely understand the landscape of sports and fandom will always generate certain discussions such as trading players in situations like this, but I have grown rather fatigued of listening to them and I am quite certain the players have too.

This cannon fodder of criticism and trade speculation is also true of three other players this summer one of them a fellow Oiler. Darnell Nurse, Mitch Marner of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and Jacob Trouba of the New York Rangers. All for different reasons and circumstances.

One thing all of these people have in common is that they have clauses in their contracts guaranteeing they cannot be traded unless they approve of it, making the fervor online a complete waste of time and energy. The media which I am a part of has to take some responsibility for this environment. The hot take machine has every right to continue to spit out hot takes, but I also reserve the right to tell you to discuss Sidney Crosby going to the Boston Bruins to compete for another cup is a complete waste of your breath.