Real reason behind Evander Kane trade revealed!

Earlier on Wednesday, the Edmonton Oilers traded forward Evander Kane to the Vancouver Canucks in return for a fourth round pick in this year’s draft.

No salary was retained in the deal, meaning moving Kane clears $5.13 million in cap space for the Oilers.

The Oilers need to be smart with their money, especially as they have to re-sign restricted free agent Evan Bouchard this summer. In addition to the reported Trent Frederic max-term extension, forwards Connor Brown, Jeff Skinner, Kasperi Kapanen and Corey Perry, and defenseman John Klingberg also being eligible to become unrestricted free agents July 1.

When the trade call took place, insider James Mirtle immediately wondered if Edmonton was making room for a goalie trade this summer.

“Do the Oilers have enough cap space to upgrade in goal now? Who’s available?,” Mirtle asked.

He was quickly answered by Pierre LeBrun, who provided first most of the details from the Kane trade, explaining the real reason behind the move:

“Draisaitl salary jump next season plus Bouchard major raise, that’s where the cap savings are for mostly. Will need to move out more money, too (Avridsson).”

He added: “It’s not just making room for Evan Bouchard raise from his expiring $3.9M cap hit, but Leon Draisaitl is jumping from $8.5M on the cap to $14M. So combined, Oilers needed another $10M to $12 million in cap space between those two players alone on next year’s cap. Kane trade helps, but Oil will try to move Arvidsson ($4M) as well.”

And so, more trades are expected from Edmonton this offseason, with Viktor Arvidsson finding himself on the block since the Oilers’ season came to an end in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final. Arvidsson has a year left on his contract with a cap hit of $4 million and a full no-movement clause.

When it comes to improving the goalie situation in Edmonton, not a lot of options are available for the Oilers. Jake Allen of the New Jersey Devils could be willing to come to Edmonton by signing as a free agent this summer, while John Gibson of the Anaheim Ducks might accept a trade to the Oilers. But the upgrade isn’t really there if you compare their numbers or playoff experience with Stuart Skinner or Calvin Pickard.

The good news however is that Edmonton has more money now, and can look ahead on what needs to be done with Bouchard while starting conversations with captain Connor McDavid’s camp on his massive extension to come in the near future.

If they can convince him to stay…