Evander Kane has been one of the most controversial players in the NHL in the past few years. As much as he has been in the spotlight, there is no denying he is a great hockey player when he is committed to the game. As he is now a Vancouver Canuck its only right to take a look at his career and see how he has now come full circle to the place he grew up. Lets get into it!
Early Beginnings
Growing up, Evander lived in East Vancouver and attended John Oliver secondary school. he played a variety of sports growing up such as soccer, basketball, baseball, and of course hockey. By the age of 14 Evander already began making a name for himself being one of the stand out players for the North Shore Winter Club, and later on joined the Greater Vancouver Canadians in the BC Hockey Major Midget League. In 2009 Kane was drafted 4th overall by the Atlanta Thrashers which in 2011 the team moved to Winnipeg to bring back the Jets organization.
NHL Career
After the Thrashers became the Jets Evander spent 7 years with the organization and was traded to the Buffalo Sabres in 2015. 3 bad years saw him to be traded once again this time to the San Jose Sharks in 2018. Kane was the Sharks franchise player and was playing the best hockey in his career and even earned himself a new contract in May of 2018 worth $49 million over 7 years. But due a Covid-19 violation in 2021 and Kane was suspended. The Sharks then decided to send Kane to waivers with immediate effect. Then on January of 2022 news broke that the Edmonton Oilers would sign Kane to a one year deal. Kane spent the next 3 years with the organization helping them to back to back Stanley cup finals in 2024 and 2025 unfortunately to no avail. Fast forward after the Oiler Stanley cup hopes were crushed, a week later on June 25th, the Canucks announced that Evander Kane was now Canuck.
This is a big year for Evander Kane, not only to earn himself a new contract with the organization, but to prove to his hometown city that he is here to win and to do everything in his power to help bring a winning culture back to his childhood team. Kane was brought in to be one of the top 6 forward for Vancouver and as they are hopeful he can bring some experience and leadership to the forward lines.
What do you think of Kane’s homecoming?