The Edmonton Oilers have traded forward Evander Kane to the Vancouver Canucks for a fourth-round pick in this year’s draft, the National Hockey League team announced Wednesday morning. Kane, who tipped off his followers on social media earlier Wednesday morning with the news, originally came to the Oilers in January 2022 after the San Jose Sharks waived him unconditionally for violating league COVID-19 protocols. The Vancouver native, who played junior hockey for that city’s Giants of the Western Hockey League, was picked fourth overall by the Atlanta Thrashers in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. The 33-year-old winger moved with the Thrashers franchise to Winnipeg, suiting up for the Jets from 2011 to 2015, when he was traded to the Buffalo Sabres along with Zach Bogosian for Tyler Myers, Drew Stafford, Joel Armia, Brendan Lemieux and a conditional first-round pick in that year’s draft. Three years later at the trade deadline, the Sabres dealt him to the Sharks for Danny O’Regan and two draft picks. Kane, who scored six goals and six assists for 12 points in 21 playoff games this year after sitting out the regular season recovering from several surgeries, scored 62 of his 326 career goals with the Oilers in 161 of his 930 career NHL games. The physical forward was particularly dominant his first season in Edmonton, when he scored 13 goals and four assists for 17 points in 15 playoff games after putting up 22 goals and 17 assists for 39 points in 41 games during the regular season. He signed a four-year, $20.5-million contract extension with the Oilers in July 2022.
