The Edmonton Oilers came within two wins of a Stanley Cup championship this year. But as soon as they lost to the Florida Panthers in the Cup final for the second straight season, speculation began as to what changes Edmonton would be making to their roster.
On Wednesday, the Oilers’ first big change happened when they traded veteran left winger Evander Kane to the Vancouver Canucks for a fourth-round pick in this week’s NHL draft.
The deal completely makes sense from Edmonton’s perspective. Unloading Kane and his $5.125-million cap hit provides the Oilers with financial flexibility when they’re trying to re-sign RFA star defenseman Evan Bouchard. And they get a fourth-rounder (that initially belonged to the Ottawa Senators) as a bonus in what is essentially a salary dump.
Let’s be honest here – Kane isn’t exactly an unproblematic player. Once again, he was one of the more penalized playoff players, accumulating 44 penalty minutes in 21 playoff games. For better or worse, Kane plays with a sizable chip on his shoulder, and that can lead to undisciplined play in important moments.
Kane is now joining the fifth franchise in his 16-year NHL career. The 33-year-old’s caustic presence sometimes boils over, and that’s the gamble the Canucks are making with Wednesday’s trade.
Vancouver management can sell Canucks fans on the fact that Kane will ostensibly replace the offense that’s departing with the expected loss of right winger Brock Boeser, and Kane’s status as a Vancouver-born-and-raised player will appeal to a wide swath of Canucks fans. Kane is also entering the final year of his current contract, so the Canucks can walk away from him next summer if things don’t work out as they hope.
However, the Oilers will happily move on without having to worry about Kane’s impact on and off the ice. They’ve now got about $17 million in cap space, and that will allow them to re-sign Bouchard and likely pending UFA forwards, including center Trent Frederic and right wingers Corey Perry and Connor Brown. Had they kept Kane, that wouldn’t have been feasible.
Evander Kane Releases Statement As Oilers Trade Him To CanucksEvander Kane is headed to the Vancouver Canucks.
Vancouver, on the other hand, now has only $7 million in cap space. Canucks fans can kiss Boeser goodbye and probably center Pius Suter as well. But so long as Kane is healthy, they’ll be a tougher team to play against, and Kane can reliably be counted on to produce 20 to 25 goals and 40 to 50 points. Kane is clearly in the back nine of his career, but having the opportunity to play in his hometown could breathe new life into his game.
In any case, Wednesday’s trade was a shot across the bow of the rest of the league. The Oilers and Canucks didn’t wait until the NHL draft arrived Friday to make a move of consequence. Instead, they chose to move quickly to get ahead of the trade market, and Edmonton and Vancouver can now go to their fan bases and point to this deal as an example of being proactive on the trade front.
Will this trade work out for both teams? Time will tell, but there’s no question the Canucks are taking the bigger risk here. The Oilers got the cap space they were looking for, but Vancouver took on a bigger risk-reward opportunity. Next season will tell us whether the Canucks were smart to acquire Kane.
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