Oilers analysts suggests team may look to buyout Evander Kane next summer

The Edmonton Oilers are in a tight cap crunch, leading many to believe a major change could come to the team by the end of next season.

One player that stands out on the current roster is Evander Kane. The team initially signed Kane to a one-year deal halfway through the 2021-22 season, after his contract with the San Jose Sharks was terminated. After that, he signed a four-year extension with the team that carries a 5.15 million dollar cap hit.

Kane still has two years left on that deal. However, Oilers analyst Tyler Yaremchuk believes that he will not finish the contract with the team. Given that Leon Draisaitl is due an extension next summer, and Connor McDavid is up the following year, Yaremchuk believes that Stan Bowman and the Oilers will look to either trade Kane or buy him out after next season comes to a conclusion.

Kane was an effective player for the Oilers last season. He recorded 24 goals and 44 points in the regular season and added another 4 goals and 8 points in 20 playoff games, despite playing through a significant injury. However, his advanced analytics are terrible, which could factor into the team's decision to move him.

Overall, Kane has appeared in 930 career NHL games and has 326 goals and 617 points to show for it after he was drafted 4th overall in the 2009 draft by the now-defunct Atlanta Thrashers. 161 of his games have been with the Oilers and he has 62 goals and 111 points with the team. That being said, he is already 33 years old and could fall off quickly given his physical playstyle. So will he finish his current contract with the Oilers? Only time will tell.

Source: OilersDailyOilers salary cap crunch may lead to another buy out of bloated contract

Source: HockeyReference Evander Kane Career Statistics

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