What the Evander Kane trade means for the Edmonton Oilers

According to Frank Seravalli, the Canucks are sending a fourth-round pick to the Oilers in exchange for the veteran winger.

That pick has been around the block. It originally came from the Ottawa Senators, who traded it (along with Roby Jarventie) to Edmonton last summer for prospects Xavier Bourgault and Jake Chiasson. The Oilers then flipped it to Vancouver in the Vasily Podkolzin deal, and now it’s coming back again.

Getting back Ottawa’s fourth-round pick means Edmonton now has four selections in the 2025 NHL Draft this weekend. The Oilers also have the third-round pick of the St. Louis Blues as compensation for Dylan Holloway, along with their own sixth and seventh-round picks.

It’s difficult to get excited about getting a mid-round pick in return for a power-forward with 20-goal, 40-point upside, though it does give the front office some added ammo for a potential move up into the second round of the draft.

Ultimately, the return from Vancouver doesn’t matter all that much. The most important part about this trade for the Oilers is that they didn’t have to retain any of the $5.125 million owed to Kane in the final year of his contract.

When we first look at Edmonton’s outlook for the off-season, the team had roughly $12 million in open salary cap room with 11 forwards, six defencemen, and two goaltenders under contract. With Evan Bouchard, Trent Frederic, Corey Perry, and Connor Brown among the players in need of new deals, $12 million wouldn’t be anywhere near enough room for the Oilers to bring back their impending free agents, let alone make any major additions.

While the Oilers are letting go of an effective power forward in Kane, they believe they have a younger and less expensive replacement in the fold. If the reports about Edmonton and Trent Frederic working on an eight-year contract worth around $3.75 million annually are correct, the Oilers would be shedding cost when compared to Kane’s $5.125 million cap hit.

Frederic didn’t make much of an impact this spring after being acquired from the Boston Bruins. He suited up in just one regular-season game for the Oilers and reaggravated the ankle injury that had sidelined him months earlier before the trade. In the playoffs, he scored just one goal and four points in 22 games.

The hope is that Frederic, who turned 27 in February, will return to form when he’s past his ankle issue. The 29th overall pick from the 2016 draft scored 35 goals and 71 points over 161 games for the Bruins in 2022-23 and 2023-24, while also providing the team a physical edge and positional versatility between centre and wing.

Since the Frederic contract isn’t complete, the Oilers currently stand with just over $17 million in salary cap room. New contracts for Bouchard and Frederic will eat up a lot of that open space, so the Oilers will certainly look to shed more money before the start of free agency next Tuesday.