Edmonton Oilers have limited options with Evander Kane.
Edmonton Oilers have limited options with Evander Kane.
EDMONTON -- Love him or hate him, the Edmonton Oilers look like they are stuck with him.
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Evander Kane is still with the team. According to a few reports, that probably isn't changing. His tenure has been a bit rocky. When he's healthy, he's a wrecking ball. When he's not, he's ineffective.
So what can the Oilers do about Kane? Here are a few options and the viability of those routes.
Buy Out Contract
At this point in time, this is the least likely option for the Oilers. That's mostly because the Oilers missed the buyout window with him.
Taking a look at PuckPedia's buyout calculator reveals a few things. For starters, a contract with a lot of signing bonuses is difficult to buy out. Kane's buyout costs the Oilers $1.125 for four years. They would save $1.625-million this season and $2.875-million next season if they had pursued that.
Because they didn't, we can move on to the next option.
Trade Him
Trading Kane is incredibly tricky for the organization on two fronts. For one, he has a no movement clause until March 1st, 2025. At that point it becomes a 16 team approved trade list. The other thing is that Kane is an incredibly unique player, who is difficult to replace.
With his no movement clause he can't be traded, sent to the minors or put on waivers without Kane's approval. This is the biggest wrench in any deal that could be made. If Kane doesn't want to leave Edmonton, the Oilers can't trade him before March 1st.
Play Him if He's Healthy, LTIR Him If Needed
This is the one area the Oilers need to take more seriously this coming season. If Kane gets injured and surgery is the best option, he needs to do the surgery. It's not difficult to imagine that Kane would have been more effective in the playoffs had he played healthy from the jump.
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Unfortunately for the Oilers, he wasn't. Playing injured while still remaining effective is one thing. But having an injury that greatly affects your play is another.
So if the Oilers come to a similar situation next year, they need to approach it differently. If the best course of action is surgery and LTIR, it needs to happen. If the plan is to keep Kane, they need him 100% healthy for the playoffs.
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The Oilers hands are tied when it comes to Kane. But if he can stay healthy for the 2024-25 season, this will be a good problem to have.
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