Evander Kane Most Likely Won't Be The Answer In Edmonton, But That Won't Stop Ken Holland From Trying Anyway
Brandon Magnus. Getty Images.Yesterday we had legendary NHL insider Tim Peel with the scoop on Evander Kane. Considering the fact that Tim Peel has never once broken news, you had to take these updates with a grain of salt.
I'm not saying that Tim Peel doesn't have good sources. I'm sure that someone who is connected was telling him mostly the right things. And from these new updates from Elliotte Friedman, it's pretty clear why someone was trying to rush the signing along.
Maybe someone in Evander Kane's camp knew the league would open up an investigation and they wanted to get a signing done before that happened. Who knows. Either way, it doesn't look like we'll see Evander Kane suiting up any time soon. That doesn't change the fact that the Edmonton Oilers are still dumb enough and desperate enough to sign the guy.
The one thing that is fucking the Oilers is the fact that they have $21M wrapped up in two players. Granted, signing Mikko Koskinen to a 3-year deal worth $13.5M was beyond idiotic. But it makes it pretty tough to surround McDavid and Draisaitl with much more than glorified shit. So when you have a chance to bring in a guy like Evander Kane who can put up 20 goals in an average year and 30 in a good one for as cheap as possible?
Jeff Vinnick. Getty Images.Kenny likey.
The only issue is the fact that, well ya know, everybody seems to hate the shit out of Evander Kane everywhere he goes. You can take all the legal issues out of the picture. Guys just seem to despise playing with him. Whether it's his teammates in Winnipeg throwing his clothes in the shower because they were done with the guy, or his teammates in San Jose going to management telling them that they didn't want Kane back on the team this year. Can he score goals? Absolutely. Is he going to rub people the wrong way in the locker room and eventually become a distraction, which is the last thing you need during a run in the playoffs? Again, absolutely.
I'd say these are the most important 4-5 months for the future of the Edmonton Oilers. If you fuck up another year of Connor McDavid's prime, I don't see how he can't start demanding radical changes. The most important stretch of Edmonton Oilers hockey coming up here and you're banking on the most unreliable guys in the league? Can't wait to see how that one plays out.
So we'll see what happens. But for someone who roots for chaos and carnage throughout the league, I can only hope Evander Kane is throwing on an Oilers sweater in the near future.