Jan 9: Kane has cleared waivers according to Chris Johnston of TSN. His contract will be terminated, though the NHLPA intends on filing a grievance on his behalf.
Jan 8: The Sharks are parting ways with Evander Kane as the winger is on unconditional waivers for the purpose of terminating his contract. The team has released the following statement:
The San Jose Sharks have informed Evander Kane that he has been placed on unconditional waivers with intent to terminate his contract for breach of his NHL Standard Player Contract and for violation of the AHL COVID-19 protocols.
By taking this approach, the Sharks believe that they can get out of the rest of Kane’s contract without any further money owed or cap hit charged. But with $19MM in salary and signing bonuses owed over the next three seasons plus the remainder of a pro-rated $7MM salary this season, Kane will almost certainly be grieving this in the coming days once he goes unclaimed on Sunday. In fact, the NHLPA has already officially responded to the situation:
We are aware of the San Jose Sharks’ stated intent to terminate Evander Kane’s contract. The NHLPA intends to challenge any such action by filing a grievance.
The 30-year-old had been the subject of multiple investigations in recent months, stemming from gambling and abuse allegations which were ruled to be unsubstantiated. However, he received a 21-game suspension at the start of the season for using a fake vaccination card and after being cleared to return, was immediately waived and sent to AHL San Jose. Kane was actually quite productive with the Barracuda, notching eight points in five games before testing positive for COVID in late December. As Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports, the reason for the release stems from a flight that Kane took during his isolation period as well as his return date to the team.
Players being on unconditional waivers during the season isn’t anything new – it happens fairly routinely with players in the minors and teams agreeing to go their separate ways. It’s also used in the summer during buyout windows; there is no buyout window during the regular season. But for a team to unilaterally use it to try to get out of a deal is much less common. Tampa Bay did it with Jake Dotchin back in 2018 but he caught on elsewhere soon after and his grievance was settled ten months later.
The most notable time it was used was when the Kings did it with Mike Richards back in 2015 with the team saying he had committed a material breach of his contract, similar language to what San Jose used in their statement. That one was also grieved and the two sides eventually settled on a payout of $11MM between 2015 and 2032 with Richards remaining on the Kings’ books through that time at varying rates but well below the original $5.75MM AAV. On the surface, it would appear that the Sharks could be trying to go a similar route here with any possible settlement being amortized over a long enough period of time to make the cap situation much more desirable than it had would have been if they continued to keep him on the books. Worth noting, back in 2015, Friedman noted that the NHLPA received assurances that Richards’ situation wouldn’t be considered as a precedent which is something Kane and his camp will certainly be pointing out.
While they will proceed with the termination on Sunday, this situation is almost certainly far from fully being settled. In the meantime, Kane will technically become an unrestricted free agent upon his release. If he signs before the March 21st trade deadline, he will be eligible to play in the playoffs while if he doesn’t find a new team right away, he would be eligible to play in the Olympics next month.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report Kane was on unconditional waivers.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Better get the popcorn ready this is gonna be a doozy
If he has nothing to lose. He go Scorched earth all the way
Now he can file for bankruptcy
Is there a coach or GM close enough to being fired that they’d take a chance on him…? I can’t think of any.
Chuck Fletcher
Dave Tippett, Oilers
Edmonton
Edmonton
He’d look great on McDavid’s wing. Say what you want about Kane’s behaviour issues but the guy knows how to score. And McDavid could use a winger with pure sniping ability. Would give the Oilers a better chance of keeping Draisitl on a second line making Edmonton a better team.
Edmonton or Carolina
What AHL protocols did he breach?
Sharks have elected not to say. Maybe someone else will leak.
Well he did fly to Vancouver while he was in isolation in the AHL so Im assuming that was the protocol breach they mentioned
Too bad for him Bergevin isnt still running the show in Montreal
Neither Edmonton nor Carolina have the cap space to do it. Heck, there are only three teams in a playoff berth right now that DO have the cap space to pick Kane up: the Rangers, the Ducks and the Predators.
He can sign for league minimum. Most teams have that space
Ya Reaves and Kane together on the Rangers would work well.
Did you read the article? Because judging by that answer I’d say you didn’t.
He doesn’t have a contact which means he doesn’t have a cap hit…
@subaru A lot of teams don’t have the space for a minimum contract. Edmonton for example has roughly 300k available. They cannot afford to sign Kane even at league minimum.
Lol all they need to do is send someone down. Just about every team has the space
@Joe Carter, perhaps you don’t know how contracts work. It’s not as simple as just sending someone down. Most guys still carry a prorated amount. Anyone on a 1 way contract need to clear waivers and then still have a hit to the NHL cap. For example, if McDavid was sent down he would still cost the Oilers 11.75M on the cap. So yes they could afford the additional 750k, they need to replace the production, for only 750k and the roster spot. And the odds Kane signs for league minimum are??? He is going to take a pay cut from 7M to 750k? Doubtful. Expect him to be seeking a prorated 2-3M deal is my expectation.
Subaru did read it? cause doesn’t really say anything, basically anything can happen
If they send Koskinen down and recall skinner the difference in savings plus what they have would be close to league minimum
Koskinen would save them the prorated 750k. so about 400k. Then Skinner’s contract would be added to their cap…. at about 400k. So no. it wouldn’t save them anything.
Sending koskinen down saves 1,125,000.00 not 750k and the oilers also have 995,532 in cap space already. So they could sign him if they wanted too. Thanks for the banter
According to capfriendly they have 20/23 roster spots filled with 920k. This morning it said 330k. Also if they send Koskinen down, they need to call Skinner up or promote Konovalov from the taxi squad, costing them 750k. A saving of 350k. So they need to fill 3 roster spots and add Kane for 1.2M? Not gonna happen.
My numbers were also from capfriendly with 23 on the roster. So ever-changing. Regardless i think they could make it work if they wanted to
It’s clear as day, open your eyes.
Damn wreckage, you’re in the dark when it comes to league rules. All they have to do is send someone down to make cap space, it literally happens every game. It’s a constant juggling of the cap to stay complaint.
To send someone down, they then also need to call someone up to fill that spot. They currently have 920833 with 3 open roster spots. So they cannot send anyone down without bringing at least someone up. Kane is not accepting a league minimum deal. Especially not if his contract is terminated without pay. And then you have to decide if his troubles in the locker room outweigh what he brings on the ice. Don’t believe it does to the Oilers. Guy is a straight up cancer according to many who have played with him in the past.
A 1yr league minimum with the Bruins. He would be the on the 2nd line with Hall! LOL
Wonder if the Leafs knew this was coming when they waived Ritchie. Freed up just enough space for a $1 million contract, for one season it would be pro-rated as well. They can make that happen. Not sure it’s the best move for the chemistry of the team, but they do need a bit more grit especially at LW.
Pretty sure the Leafs waived Ritchie because 1. His production and 2. He’s the only player you could send down without risk of being claimed. And if he did that’s a huge savings on the cap. Only 2 players who are waiver exempt are Sandin and Liljigren and you’re not sending either one of them down.
Mike Richards is on the Kings payroll til 2032??! Crazy
It’s the 2 Stanley Cups beforehand that make it acceptable!
Whatever one thinks of Kane, the NHLPA can’t just let a team must say something like “uhh…you didn’t wear a mask in the AHL so we’re voiding your $26 million deal.”
What Covid protocol in the AHL is so stringent it cant be used to void an NHL contract?
because that’s probably not going to hold up in court?
Not sure how can became “cant” with no ‘ but…
The “he went to Vancouver during Covid” isn’t enough for the Sharks to win, but the “he reported back to the team a week late” argument is a little better.
Likely, the Sharks don’t expect to win and just wanted to be rid of him and anything less than his full cap hit is a win.
link to thedailygoalhorn.com
Just caught this regarding Evander Kane , Covid Violation and pending grievence and Kevin Kurz from the athletic on Twitter
link to twitter.com
as a sharks fan i actually found Kane enjoyable to watch.I wanted him to come back the sharks have problems scoring.
Kane will and should grieve this but he should settle on Half of what is owed to him and get out of the NHL ..landing spots KHL lots of crazy s**t he can get into over there and they don’t mind…they will pay alot over there for this guy…
How will they pay a lot for him with a team cap of 12M?
Kane files Ch.11, waits for a deal to open up in KHL and makes some tax-free $$$’s for the downturn of his career… he’s fine w/out the NHL, and the NHL is fine w/out…..
lose/win situation if there ever was one….
Evader Kane must be related to Antonio Brown!
Yeah, seriously, c’mon, folks. He is absolutely going to grieve this, and him signing anywhere for league minimum would be him admitting that his contract really was legitimately voided and he’s not due the money. Which he will absolutely, positively not do. A team picking him up is going to have to meet the cap hit.
Hello,
Can you fix this sentence? Chris Johnston works for TSN, he doesn’t works for Sportsnet anymore. Please & thank you.
“Kane has cleared waivers according to ‘Chris Johnston of Sportsnet'”.
Hello,
Now that he has cleared waiver, can you fix the title? Please & thank you.
“Sharks Place Evander Kane On Unconditional Waivers”
No
Why, Gavin?
Do you really have to be this big of a grammar nazi?! I see this on every post from you
THANK YOU Gavin. Majority of us agree with you and your crew. This is a site for news, rumors, and updates. Grammar does not need to be set at a NYT bestsellers level. As long as it is legible and understandable by majority if not all it is appreciated and perfect punctuation, grammar, and updated titles after an update is not necessary. You have enough on your plate without dealing with every little grammatical error and minor detail on every article while dealing with 97 different covid updates a day to have to deal with it coming from 1 or 2 semi regulars who post nothing but those corrections We appreciate it.
@Donovan, yes he does. He doesn’t pay attention to the sport and is looking for an editorial job by correcting the writers of this site. It’s all he has posted for 3 years now. No opinions on anything. Just editorial mistakes made. He seems to think it would help his cause somehow. He has blocked me for asking him to stop or criticizing him the once or twice he was also incorrect.
@Josip Tomic, it’s quite simple. because you are a douche to the writers and creators of this site. They have better things to spend their time on. Finding leads and stories and writing them themselves for example instead of worrying about simple common mistakes or updates to titles. But you do you my friend. And wonder why your resumes keep being rejected by websites you keep applying to while criticizing their writers.
And also because when this story was broke by phr it was that he was on waivers, not cleared.
Sabres will come a calling.
He has already wore out his welcome in Buffalo once before.
Since this Covid idiocy is a load of crap and self-created drama, I’d take him in a heartbeat. Nothing like sidelining the healthiest people on the planet for a cold.
Actually, everyone’s missing a trick. No one in the NHL’s likely to touch him, and it’s against his interest to sign for a penny less than his full San Jose contract. So I think it’s back to an option people were talking about months ago: overseas. Do the KHL rules allow him to sign over there at this point?
@NHA_Trang, the KHL has a team cap of 12M per team. How do they fill a team roster of 12M with Kane taking 7M of that?
I hope he signs in Vegas just for entertainment value.