Today is March 1, the first day since the Edmonton Oilers signed Evander Kane that they can trade the veteran forward without his approval. Should the Oilers do it? Will they?
As of March 1, 2025, Kane had to submit a 16-team trade list to the Oilers, thus ending his full no trade clause.
Kane has one year left on his deal that pays him $5.1 million per. If he’s out the rest of the regular season, or if he’s traded away, the Oilers can use his cap space to acquire another player or two at the trade deadline.
All this has led NHL insiders such as the Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli to speculate on whether the Oilers would not move Kane, who had been out all year after multiple operations and may not return to play until the 2025 playoffs, if at all this season.
“I’ve thought about it,” Seravalli told Bob Stauffer on Oilers Now of a possible Kane trade. “Definitely possible. I don’t know that I’d call it likely because the Oilers just have limited assets. In order to move on from Kane, you’d have to attach assets to do it, because everyone understands what your conundrum is. And not only that, but he has term on his deal. And then let’s say you pull that off. Okay, fine. So now you’ve got clarity. You’ve lost LTIR space that you could have potentially used. And beyond that, you’ve now worsened the asset pull that you can trade from to improve the team. So I think in theory it’s fun to think about. In practicality, probably not as applicable.”
My take
1. The Oilers are weak in two ways right now, in net, where their goalies have been mediocre and inconsistent, and on the wing, where the team lacks speed, scoring, and aggression. Evander Kane, if healthy, can solve one of those issues almost singlehandedly.
2. Against Los Angeles and Vancouver in the playoffs last year, he was a critical player in Edmonton winning. His physical play and offensive forechecking proved to be a major factor in giving Edmonton an edge. He harassed d-men like Drew Doughty, Mikey Anderson and Quinn Hughes with his ferocious checking. He stood up to Vancouver tough guy Nikita Zadorov when no other Oilers player would do so so. He was a playoff beast — and he was a beast while playing when injured.
3. If he’s healthy by the 2025 playoffs, I have no doubt he can help the Oilers or some other NHL team win a Stanley Cup. If another team can get Kane, and have the Oilers throw in some kind of sweetener, that is a steal of a deal for them. A team that needs a ferocious and skilled player would do well to jump all over that kind of deal. Of course, they’d have to know Kane is healthy. But if Kane is going to be healthy for the playoffs, why would the Oilers move him? Again, he would solve a major issue for the Oilers on the wing.
4. The unknowns are around Kane’s health and return to play. If he’s going to miss the full regular season, he’s of particular value to playoff teams as they can use his cap space for the remainder of the regular season, then employ him in the playoffs. This would also be of great value to the Oilers, who could bring Kane back for the playoffs, but use his cap space now to pick up a needed goalie.
5. How will this work out? I have no idea. There’s little solid info out there about Kane’s injury status. I’m not sure why that is. Are Kane and his camp super secretive? Are the Oilers? Are both of them? If so, why? I’m not sure. All I know is that Kane could well be the key to changing the plot for the Oilers and unlocking their Stanley Cup hopes in 2025. My own hope is that the Oilers keep him, that he return when he’s fully healthy for the 2025 playoffs, and that both Kane and the Oil thrive in that tournament.
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