Evander Kane will be suiting up for his fifth NHL franchise next season. The talented 33-year-old former Buffalo Sabres winger was traded by the Edmonton Oilers to his hometown Vancouver Canucks for a 2025 fourth round pick on Wednesday.  

Part of the motivation for the deal was cap-related, as the Oilers needed to clear his $5.125 million salary to accommodate the pay increase for forward Leon Draisaitl, the expected hefty salary of RFA defenseman Evan Bouchard, and to re-sign pending unrestricted free agents like Trent Frederic, Corey Perry, and Connor Brown, but Kane has likely worn out his welcome with the Oilers after causing some difficulty during the regular season. 

Kane was injured in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs and underwent hip and groin surgery last summer. The winger then had knee surgery in January, but close to the trade deadline made noises about wanting to play before the end of the regular season, that would have put a crimp in GM Stan Bowman’s plans of adding players with Kane’s salary on long-term injured reserve. 

Other Sabres Stories

Is Peterka In Prime Position For Big Payday?

Sabres Summer Dilemmas - Bowen Byram

Sabres Facing An Off-Season Of Change

The winger replaced former Sabre Jeff Skinner in the Oilers lineup early in the first round series against Los Angeles and helped turn the series around with his rambunctious physical play, but Kane’s lack of self-control revealed itself in the Cup Final against the Florida Panthers, when he took six minor penalties and two misconducts in six games. 

After six seasons with the Atlanta Thrashers / Winnipeg Jets, the 2009 fourth overall pick was traded to the Sabres in February 2015 along with Zach Bogosian, for Tyler Myers, Joel Armia, Brendan Lemieux and a first-round pick. Kane played 196 games over three seasons with Buffalo before being traded at the 2018 trade deadline to San Jose.  

Follow Michael on X, Instagram, and Bluesky @MikeInBuffalo