Six teams who make sense as landing spots for Oilers’ Evander Kane

Four years after he arrived, it appears that Evander Kane’s time with the Edmonton Oilers is drawing to a close.

The team looked to trade him ahead of the NHL’s Trade Deadline, and while it didn’t work out then, it always felt as though it were a deal to be made in the off-season. Kane appeared at No. 6 on Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli’s latest Trade Targets list, and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported there would be a market for the power forward this summer.

Kane is entering the final season of a four-year deal paying him $5.125 million, and has a 16-team no-trade list that will, to a certain extent, complicate things, but there should be options available.

Let’s dive into a few with all salary cap details from our friends at PuckPedia.

The could-be contenders

Kane clearly has a desire to win a Stanley Cup, made clear by not only signing with the Oilers in the first place, but by inking a four-year deal. And while most contenders are tight to the cap, unable to take on the full brunt of his contract as the Oilers will want teams to do, there are a few options out there.

Boston Bruins

Maybe it’s just me, but Boston seems like a team that would love to get their hands on Kane. He fits the bill of Bruin Hockey as a big, power forward who plays a mean style of game. Boston has picks — their first, two seconds, as well as a third, fourth, fifth and sixth — and $ 23.4 million in cap space to play with this summer.

After missing the playoffs by a mile, they’ll surely be looking to make a splash and get back into the postseason. Could Kane be part of that as a salary dump? Or what about a bigger deal?

The Bruins — seemingly hesitant to do so — signed goaltender Jeremy Swayman to an eight-year, $8.25-million AAV deal, one that has no trade protection through this upcoming 2025-26 season. That leaves the door open to a possible trade.

Trading Kane and Stuart Skinner to Boston in a deal that brings back Swayman and no additional pieces that impact the cap would add just $525,000 to their books. The problem with that is that even if the team trades Arvidsson, they’re going to be far too tight to the salary cap without trading one of Adam Henrique.

The New York Rangers

The Blueshirts have just over $ 13 million in cap space and a roster that needs some help. Franchise legend Chris Kreider was shipped off to the Anaheim Ducks in mid-June, and Kane could help fill his role as a power forward and net front presence on the power play.

They don’t have a big list of names who would require money this summer, headlined by defenceman K’Andre Miller, but he appeared as No. 4 on Daily Faceoff‘s latest Trade Targets list.

One caveat in them as an option is that Anaheim wanted to clear out all of Kreider’s $6.5 million salary cap. Would they be willing to use nearly 80 percent of that space to acquire Kane? That remains to be seen, but they have multiple picks in the third and sixth rounds this year — two picks that would be in line with what the Seattle Kraken sent to the Dallas Stars to acquire Mason Marchment.

The Minnesota Wild

The Wild are finally out of cap hell from the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts, and have $ 15.78 million in cap space. Their big pending free agent is Marco Rossi, who the team is looking to trade, seemingly unwilling to pay him. Minnesota needs some help in their middle-six, and Kane could help provide some more scoring on a team that scored the second-fewest goals for per hour at five-on-five last season.

Minnesota has its own second, fourth, fifth and sixth round picks, and all but its second in 2026. With their extra cap space, they could be a team looking to make a splash.

The Carolina Hurricanes

Carolina is learning in real time that they might not have what it takes to break through. In the last seven years, they’ve been bounced in the second round and the Eastern Conference three times each. This year’s five-game loss to the Florida Panthers may have been the toughest, as that series wasn’t close at all.

They enter the offseason with $ 26.7 million in cap space and don’t have much in the way of free agents to take care of. It would make sense for them to take a swing on Marner, but even still, they would have a good amount of space left.

Kane is a player who could help them with the physicality they sorely lack in their top-six, and still has a scoring touch.

The re-builders

Anaheim Ducks

With $ 36 million in cap space, the Ducks will need to spend $ 11 million just to get to the cap floor. With Kreider, Jacob Trouba, and Joel Quenneville all arriving there in the last seven months as a team on the rise, players could be more willing to go there.

Kane could help them in a push for the playoffs this year and if the wheels fall off — which they likely will — they could flip him at the deadline for more assets. Speaking of which, they have their own first, two seconds, a third, two fourths, two fifths, a sixth and a seventh round draft picks this year.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Multiple insiders have pegged the Penguins as “the only team trying to get worse,” and as a result, could be willing to take on some money. They have $ 22.9 million in cap space, and if they find a way to trade Erik Karlsson, they’ll need to spend more to get to the salary cap floor.

They won’t have to allocate much to retain the free agents they have, and Kane playing in their top-six alongside Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin could help boost the winger’s value ahead of the trade deadline.