Signing Evander Kane will cost more for Oilers than his salary

So, what could go wrong?

One of the most reviled players in the NHL somehow escapes league punishment after having his contract nullified by the San Jose Sharks for running afoul of COVID-19 protocols for a second time this season and ends up in one of the league’s biggest fishbowls in Edmonton playing for one of the most fragile teams in the league.

Nope. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Ha. Ha. Just kidding.

You think the Oilers were a trainwreck from which you could not turn away before?

Pop that corn and pull up a chair because now it gets really interesting.

Because the Oilers have decided their best way forward is to introduce a clearly troubled Evander Kane into the mix. Because what ails the Oilers will surely be cured by the addition of a 30-year-old who can’t or won’t follow rules, even those designed to keep himself and the rest of the population safe during a pandemic. Not to mention having a myriad of other issues including, but not limited to, a significant gambling problem, crushing debt brought on by those gambling issues and a toxic relationship with his former wife that sparked a wide range of allegations including domestic battery and betting on NHL games.

Kane has always insisted the allegations of physical abuse and gambling on hockey were untrue. He repeated those assertions in a lengthy interview with TSN’s Kayla Grey, the first part of which aired Thursday shortly after his deal with Edmonton was announced.

“I want to make it very clear that has never happened,” Kane said of the abuse allegations, adding that he has sole physical and legal custody of the couple’s daughter.

He admitted he has sought help for his gambling addiction and believes that it is under control.

“I’m confident and comfortable saying that’s no longer an issue,” Kane told Grey.

The league investigated the allegations levied by Kane’s former wife and found they had no merit, or at least not enough merit, to keep Kane from playing, but the NHL did earlier this season suspend Kane for 21 games for using a phony vaccination card.

Kane admitted in the TSN interview was “a big error in judgment on my part,” but he declined to go into specifics. He did say that he was vaccinated against COVID-19 prior to training camp.

After the suspension, the Sharks wanted nothing to do with him, a sentiment shared by teammates for months now. So San Jose sent Kane to its American Hockey League affiliate, where he quickly ran afoul of COVID protocols. This is at least according to the team, which alleged that Kane flew to Vancouver over the holidays when he should have been in quarantine, after which the organization moved to terminate his contract.

Kane declined to provide details on that travel, but he insisted it wasn’t entirely black and white.

“I feel everything was done by the book and up front,” he told Grey.

The league announced late Thursday that there was insufficient evidence to “conclusively find that Mr. Kane knowingly made misrepresentations regarding his COVID-19 status or test results in connection with his international travel.”

So, if there wasn’t enough evidence to suspend Kane, how is it that the Sharks have been able to terminate his contract, making him a free agent paving the way to signing this deal with Edmonton?

It makes little sense that the Sharks have a case to terminate the remainder of Kane’s seven-year, $49 million deal that was set to run through 2024-25, and yet the league didn’t have enough evidence to suspend Kane further. Those two issues are difficult to reconcile.

Regardless of the legal maneuvering that led us to this point, Kane is back in the NHL, having burned bridges in Winnipeg, Buffalo and San Jose since being drafted by the Atlanta Thrashers with the fourth overall pick in 2009.

What lies ahead will be one of the most fascinating storylines in a league that has provided no shortage of controversies, scandals and news stories in recent months.

This is a morality play writ large. All that is at stake is the reputation of a once-proud franchise and some of the top players in the world.

We spoke to a longtime NHL executive familiar with Kane and his tumultuous career. It’s no wonder everyone is talking about the Kane situation he said, “because you don’t know how it’s going to go. You have no idea how it’s going to go.”

He’s right.

Because there are certain undeniable elements to this most curious of hockey marriages.

The Oilers are woefully constructed and those roster deficiencies have seen them fall from first place in the Pacific Division to outside the playoff bubble. But not so far that their season isn’t salvageable. In fact, a playoff spot is very much within their grasp if they can get their act together.

Starting with Hall of Fame GM Ken Holland, the Oilers believe Kane is the type of talent who can help them get there. As this executive explained, no matter the baggage, Kane’s talent is undeniable.

From a purely analytic standpoint, the moves makes sense. It cost the Oilers no assets, and he’s being paid at basically the bargain-basement price of $2.1 million against the cap. This is $1 million in real dollars, according to our Frank Seravalli, but the presence of a full no-move clause suggests there were other teams in the hunt for one of the game’s most polarizing figures.

In that case, this makes perfect sense from a team perspective.

“The thing you can’t mistake with him is he can (fricking) play,” the executive said. “And that’s clear. He can play. He can play and he can play heavy and hard and he will be a good add to that team.”

Unless, of course, Kane stays in character and is a catalyst further disintegration of a team that is already fragile, edgy and keenly aware of how close its season is to slipping away.

“One thing, he’s not a uniter; he’s a divider,” the executive said. “That’s been very clear with him.”

He’s opinionated, and he has strong opinions, “and his opinions are usually way (fricking) out there,” he said.

Like, for instance, his opinions on rules as they relate to a pandemic that has killed more than 5.6 million people around the world according to the World Health Organization; a pandemic that has killed 866,000 Americans and 33,000 Canadians.

We can only glean from his actions that Kane cares not a whit for any kind of rules or protocols regarding COVID given his 21-game suspension for using a phony vaccine card. It’s behavior that is more than selfish, more than childish; although, it is both of those for sure. It’s behavior that’s an affront to every family who has lost a loved one to the pandemic, an affront to every first responder and healthcare worker who has gone to war with the pandemic every single day for going on two years now.

The fact the Oilers and their players apparently are OK with Kane’s reckless behavior, in general, and specifically in regard to the pandemic, really distills this debate to one very clear element for the team.

Can Kane help the Oilers win games? Nothing more. Nothing less.

Captain Connor McDavid said as much a few weeks ago when he suggested optics weren’t really of concern to the team. And if fans and/or the media didn’t like the idea of Kane as an Oiler, well, “it is what it is.”

Duncan Keith was asked Thursday and responded with enthusiasm at the prospect of having Kane join the team.

“Any time you add a player like that, a good player, you’d be excited by that if that’s going to happen,” Keith said. “We’d be happy to have him and excited to have him join the group and help us out.”

Oh, if life were only that simple, no? Just win some games to redeem yourself, never mind all of the wreckage that follows behind you like a shadow.

Would it have been nice to hear any kind of discouraging word from the team’s leadership group? Don’t hold your breath. And let’s be honest, there’s a certain amount of raw honesty to this line of thinking, this rationalization in bringing in a player like Kane, even if it is repugnant to many outside the team bubble.

Of course this kind of rationalization isn’t new.

Remember when the Chicago Blackhawks — for whom Keith played at the time — felt that winning was more important than the timely reporting of a sexual assault of one of their own players on the eve of the 2010 playoffs?

The Blackhawks sold their organizational soul for a shot at winning a Stanley Cup. It’s a stain that will never leave that team and some of the most recognized figures in the game.

By signing Kane to a pro-rated one-year deal, the Oilers have likewise sold their organizational soul, too, seemingly content to completely ignore repeated transgressions on other teams in the hopes of collecting a few more points. It’s a Faustian deal with sticks and skates.

At the very least, here’s hoping we never hear GM Ken Holland utter the words "character" and "culture" again while he’s GM of the club. Those are terms he invoked when he took over the team and they are traits all teams aspire to have and to create. But Holland has forsaken his "character" and "culture" privileges with this move.

Kane is antithesis of both. And so the Oilers will move forward suggesting by their actions that they don’t believe "character" and "culture" are necessary for success. Good luck with that.

Another longtime player and analyst likened Kane to NFL wide receiver Antonio Brown, who was seen stripping off his gear in the middle of a game late in the NFL regular season. He was released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the last team to try to rehabilitate the troubled wide receiver.

This person has admired Kane’s ability to play the game. But he has known of Kane and his transgressions since he was a junior-aged player and believes he is irredeemable.

“He’s a damaged human, and I don’t think can be fixed,” he said.

So we watch as this drama unfolds.

Maybe in the coming days and weeks, the Oilers will prove that standing up and saying "sorry, even though Kane might help our team in the standings, we actually stand for something more than points and wins," is separate from the process of winning. Maybe Kane helps them to the playoffs and more.

And maybe, as disheartening to imagine, that will be the lesson in all this.

Or, maybe, character really is destiny, and Kane’s presence will be the final nail in the coffin of this team’s season and, worse, its organizational soul.