Oilers trade Evander Kane to Canucks for fourth-round pick

Kane, 33, returns to his home town, and the city where he played WHL hockey for the Vancouver Giants. Entering the final year of a four-year, $5.125-million AAV, the Oilers looked to trade Kane ahead of the NHL’s Trade Deadline, as just days before it, his full no-movement clause turned into a 16 team approved trade list.

In Kane’s statement, he called it an “honor [sic] to become part of an organization and team I grew up watching as a kid.”

He joined the Oilers as a free agent in January 2022 on a one-year, prorated deal after being released by the San Jose Sharks, and went on to score 22 goals and 39 points in 43 regular-season games. The power forward made his mark in the playoffs that year, scoring 13 goals and 17 points in 15 games, as the Oilers were swept in the Western Conference Final by the Colorado Avalanche. Kane would score 62 goals and 111 points in 161 regular-season games for the Oilers, adding another 26 goals and 42 points in 68 playoff games.

During his time with the Oilers, Kane would suffer two major injuries: one partway through the 2022-23 season, in which his wrist was accidentally cut open by the skate of then Tampa Bay Lightning forward Pat Maroon. The injury kept him out of the Oilers lineup from early November until the middle of January.

In the 2023-24 season, Kane suffered from multiple abdominal injuries that hampered his production as the playoffs began, forcing him out of the lineup by the time the Oilers reached the Stanley Cup Final.