Paul Coffey Slams Oilers' Evander Kane Trade to Canucks - Hints at Major Changes

Evander Kane Has Strong Community Ties and was Worth Keeping, per Paul Coffey

Paul Coffey believes Evander Kane is the type of player worth keeping and re-signing, pointing to his strong ties to the community.

Kane lives in Edmonton year-round, maintains close relationships with teammates and staff, and has been a unifying presence both on and off the ice. Coffey feels Kane's locker room influence would be extremely difficult to replace.

A Hall of Fame defenseman, Coffey is now an advisor to Oilers owner Daryl Katz and Katz's son, Harrison.

With his on-ice pedigree, vast knowledge of hockey, and strong opinions on player talent, Coffey's potential greater role in hockey operations would signal a shift in how the organization makes its decisions going forward.

This new move of leaving the bench and moving to the front office has fueled speculation that Coffey will make more noise on roster issues in the near future.

Some believe this Kane situation has led to internal discussion about giving him more input on the team's direction, possibly one of the reasons he removed himself from a bench role to work in the front office, as he wants to avoid the team making any future trades that get rid of good players.