Amid the Trade Deadline chaos Friday morning, the NHL Department of Player Safety disclosed a few punishments for incidents that happened during Thursday’s NHL slate. The Toronto Maple Leafs’ Jake McCabe and Boston Bruins’ Charlie Coyle earned matching $5,000 cross-checking fines after the divisional rivals played a chippy affair. Meanwhile, Edmonton Oilers right winger Evander Kane got slapped with a $2,500 fine for unsportsmanlike conduct against the Columbus Blue Jackets’ Cole Sillinger.
The incident occurred in the second period of the Oilers’ 4-2 road loss to the Blue Jackets Thursday during a bench altercation in which Kane jabbed his stick into the Blue Jackets’ bench, a source tells Daily Faceoff.
Kane is no stranger to the principal’s office. Friday’s fine was the fourth of his NHL career. He’s also been suspended by the DOPS a whopping seven times over the course of his 15 seasons.
Kane, 32, is in the midst of a down year. After he buried 38 goals in 84 regular-season games across his first two seasons as an Oiler, punctuated by 16 goals in 27 playoff games, he has 21 goals in 60 games so far in 2023-24. His 0.35 goals per game represent his lowest mark since he was a Buffalo Sabre in 2015-16.
Kane had a new linemate Thursday night in Adam Henrique, whom the Oilers acquired from the Anaheim Ducks via trade along with Sam Carrick earlier this week, making their first move in the Western Conference arms race. Henrique, a natural center, joined Edmonton’s top six and played the left wing on a line with Leon Draisaitl and Kane, also seeing time with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
The Kane fine money goes to the NHL Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
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