Evander Kane's financial future looks bleak in latest court filing.

In spite of the fact that he was at one point earning several million dollars a year as a star forward in the National Hockey League, the financial future of Edmonton Oilers forward Evander Kane is looking rather bleak according to the latest update on his bankruptcy proceedings.

Last year Judge Stephen Johnson ruled in favor of Evander Kane when creditors attempted to move his Chapter 7 bankruptcy claim to a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, one that would have allowed them to collect the money that Kane borrowed from them from his future earnings as a player in the NHL. Now however those creditors are appealing that decision in federal court and Kane is once again at risk of seeing his future earnings being garnished by his creditors.

In response to the appeal Kane's own filing has painted a bleak financial outlook for the future of the NHL forward, although it has to be said that it is in his own interest to do so in the hopes of avoiding the move to Chapter 11. Kane's filing made it clear that his future prospects beyond this current season with the Oilers were uncertain, and there is probably some truth to that in spite of the fact that he has played well in Edmonton with 5 goals and 5 assists over 14 games after joining the team midway through the season.

"What is clear, is it is not possible for this Court to grant effective relief to Zions because Zions cannot depend on Kane’s terminated contract to fund a Chapter 11 plan," reads Kane’s filing as per The Athletic. "Indeed, Kane’s professional prospects beyond the current season are uncertain. Were this Court to reverse the Conversion Order and remand the case to the bankruptcy court, there would be no basis to reconsider the Conversion Order because the underlying contract is gone."

In January of 2021 Kane declared liabilities of $26.8 million and assets of only $10.2 million and it is hard to imagine that situation has improved given that the San Jose Sharks recently terminated his lucrative NHL contract. That contract carried an average annual value of $7 million per season and would have, under normal circumstances, have extended for 3 more seasons beyond this one through the 2024- 2025 regular season. As a result of that termination Kane forfeited a staggering $22.8 million that remained on his deal, although the National Hockey League Players' Association has filed a grievance on his behalf in that regard.

I suspect that if the NHLPA were to win that grievance on his behalf, the creditors coming after Kane over his current bankruptcy filing would attempt to go after any settlement he might earn as a result of that grievance as well.

Regardless of the outcome of that grievance, it seems highly unlikely that Kane will earn that kind of money again in the near future given the irreparable damage that his reputation has suffered, both on and off the ice, throughout this entire fiasco. For example, Kane's new deal with the Oilers is just a one year deal valued at $2,108,696, a far cry from what he was earning with the Sharks.