The Oilers are making room for Evander Kane

The report was made earlier today: Irfaan Gaffar believes that free agent Evander Kane could play on Tuesday night. As he puts it: “Strong indication is if all goes well he could play Tuesday in Vancouver against the Canucks.” And who are the Canucks hosting on Tuesday night? No other than the Edmonton Oilers.

It was a shock that as soon as the San Jose Sharks terminated the contract of the controversial forward, there were literally dozens of teams lining up to add him to their roster. The Oilers were rumoured to be close to signing Kane earlier this month, but the NHL is conducting an investigation into Kane (the third one this year) following allegations that he crossed the Canada/USA border after testing positive for COVID-19. In effect, Kane went against not only NHL protocol, but government protocol by traveling while sick.

But Gaffar believes a signing will come and now David Pagnotta of the Fourth Period adds that, after placing Kyle Turris on waivers today, the Oilers will gain $1.125M in cap relief by burying his contract.

“That enough for Evander Kane?” asks Pagnotta.

Kane put up 22 goals and 49 points in just 56 games last season. He has the potential to be a 35+ goal scorer and 70+ point player over a full season and that’s why teams have been interested in him. Throw in the fact that he’ll be signed for likely much cheaper than the $7 million annual salary he earned with the Sharks and it’s a no-brainer for a lot of clubs, including the Oilers who are reportedly the front-runner. And with Gaffar’s update and Pagnotta doing the maths, maybe it’s just a matter of closing the investigation to see Kane under contract in Edmonton.

The Oilers could be making room for him as we speak.