Another confusing update on Evander Kane from Oilers GM Holland

Edmonton Oilers general manager Ken Holland said it again on Wednesday: he hopes to re-sign top forward Evander Kane this summer. However, the GM acknowledged it will not be an easy task seeing that the upcoming arbitration ruling between Kane and his former team the San Jose Sharks won’t be resolved before the start of free agency. Kane and the Sharks are having their cases heard by an arbitrator to determine whether or not Kane’s contract was properly terminated and whether or not Kane is entitled to the remaining amount of the remaining $21 million of his seven year contract.

Holland faces “uncharted waters” seeing how the grievance process might hinder the Oilers’ ability to sign the forward.

“Certainly, the hope is to be able to bring Evander back, but there’s this situation, the cap, and Evander and his agent’s wants and needs,” Holland said, per TSN. “Hopefully, everything lines up that we can bring him back.”

Kane joined the Edmonton Oilers midway through the 2021-22 season on a one-year deal after having a previous contract terminated by the San Jose Sharks. Kane put up 22 goals and 17 assists in 43 regular-season games for the Oilers, while adding 13 goals and four assists in 15 playoff games after signing for the team in January. We get why the Oilers want to keep him.

However, Cap Friendly shows the Oilers projected to having just over $7 million in cap space this off-season with Ryan McLeod, Jesse Puljujarvi and Kailer Yamamoto scheduled to hit restricted free agency.

For now, Holland has opened talks pending unrestricted free agent defenseman Brett Kulak after adding him from the Montreal Canadiens at the trade deadline. We bet he can’t wait to start talks with Kane, though this update remains confusing.

Earlier this month, Ryan Rishaug of TSN reported that “it felt like Evander Kane and the Oilers was a short-term relationship and seems unlikely he’ll commit to Edmonton long-term.” On top of that, recent reports came out that Kane is seeking $7 or $8 million annually…

We get why Holland has no clue where this is going…