As Kevin Weekes of ESPN reported, a settlement has been reached for the Evander Kane grievance. The expectation is that Evander Kane will be due money from the Sharks, 2.5 million. The Sharks will be paying the difference between the final three years of his deal with the Sharks(19M) and his current deal with the Oilers (16.5).
During the 2017-18 season, Evander Kane was traded by the Buffalo Sabres to the San Jose Sharks for prospect Daniel O’Regan, a conditional 2019 first-round pick, and a conditional fourth-round pick in 2020. Kane finished the season with 14 points in 17 games with the Sharks, scoring nine goals. During the off-season, Kane would sign a 7-year deal with the Sharks, worth $49 million ($7M AAV).
Kane played three seasons of his contract, which amounted to 195 games. Through those games, Kane would score 78 goals and finish with 152 points.
In 2021, Evander Kane found himself in the headlines for many reasons, none of which were to do with his on-ice play. With allegations within Kane’s personal life, he also found himself in the headlights of a 21-game suspension for violating the NHL’s covid protocol. Later in the season, Evander Kane would again run into trouble with covid protocol, this time in the AHL with the San Jose Barracuda. This was the final straw for the Sharks and Evander Kane, as Kane’s contract would be terminated by the Sharks. Shortly after, Kane filed a grievance against the Sharks.
It didn’t take long for Evander Kane to be given another opportunity, as multiple teams were placing calls on the free agent power forward. Teams like the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers were heavily rumored. On January 27th, Evander Kane made his choice and signed with the Edmonton Oilers on a 1-year deal worth 2 million dollars. With Kane making his choice to play with the best player in the NHL, a lot of people saw this as Kane’s way of planning to cash in for his next contract, and it showed that he picked the right guy to play with. Kane played 43 games with the Oilers, scoring 22 goals and 39 points. His strong play would continue into the post-season, where Kane would score 13 goals and 17 points in 15 games.
At the end of the season, after the Oilers got run over by the Avs in 4 games in the WCF, both the Oilers and Evander Kane had a decision to make, with that decision being… what’s next? With tons of rumors of Evander Kane asking for upwards of 7-8 million dollars and the Oilers not being close to that number, it seemed as if Kane’s time in Edmonton was over. That was until July 12th, right before midnight, Evander Kane put out this tweet:
With more details coming out over Evander Kane’s grievance settlement, it will be good for everyone involved to have this done.
