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Evander Kane Breaks His Silence After Being Traded by the Edmonton Oilers to Vancouver Canucks

Originally posted on Hockey Latest | By Daniel Lucente | Last updated Jul 11, 2025 11:23 AM ET

Canucks' Evander Kane has recently spoken publicly now that he has been traded by the Oilers, and said he would have loved to finish his career in Edmonton.

Evander Kane's Edmonton stay ended officially just weeks after the Oilers' second-straight Stanley Cup Final loss.

Cap room was tight, and the team focused on returning Evan Bouchard and having the ability to sign Connor McDavid in the future. Evander Kane's $5.1 million cap hit was now out of the picture, especially with his 16-team no-trade list limiting options.

With his agent and the Oilers' management along with him, Kane engineered a move to a preferred location: his hometown of Vancouver, and now spoke about it.

'I would have loved to have stayed and finish my career here in Edmonton,» said Kane, a father of four. 'Me and my family, we have a lot of great memories here, on and off the ice. Obviously, I understand hockey is first and foremost a business and that people have to make business decisions, especially when there are salary-cap issues with teams.
Vancouver, only two years ago, they could have been in the final. They were probably the toughest series, believe it or not, that whole playoff, including Florida. I mean, we got down three in Florida, but then we won three straight, right? Yeah. Canucks were probably our toughest series over that whole year. If you look back at that, obviously they had a bit of an off year last year, I think that it's more than realistic to be back in the playoffs and be contending.'

A fourth-round pick was given to the Oilers in the exchange, selecting Saskatoon Blades forward David Lewandowski.

Controversy surrounded Kane when he never came out for the series-ending handshakes

Kane also spoke of the controversy surrounding his removal following Game 6 of the Final, where he was taken out with over two minutes left and never returned to the ice for the traditional post-series handshake.

His non-return sparked criticism and social media chatter. Kane dismissed it by saying he was sent off the ice from the game and didn't want to return once the final whistle had sounded.

The power forward was sidelined for the entire season due to injury and came back for Game 2 of the playoffs. When asked if he could have been ready sooner, Kane smiled and called it 'an interesting question.' For all the pain of consecutive Finals defeats, Kane is hopeful.

He can't wait to suit up in front of family and friends for the first time, and believes the Canucks are poised to make another run, the way they did two summers ago, when they won the Pacific Division title and pushed Edmonton to a hard-fought seven-game second-round series.

This article first appeared on Hockey Latest and was syndicated with permission.

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