Kane ‘really excited’ for fresh start with hometown Canucks after trade from Oilers

Evander Kane chose the appropriate attire to begin the next chapter of his NHL career with the Vancouver Canucks.

The 33-year-old forward wore a suit designed in the Canucks’ colors of blue and green to his introductory media availability in Vancouver on Thursday, one day after he was traded from the Edmonton Oilers for a fourth-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.

“I had this in my closet and when I was planning on coming here, I wasn’t planning on packing it, but I said, ‘I have to wear this for this interview,’ so it worked out well,” Kane said. “Everybody seemed incredibly welcoming, they want to have me here, which is a nice feeling. When you feel wanted you want to perform at your best, so I’m looking forward to doing that on the ice.”

Kane is going into the final season of a four-year, $20.5 million contract ($5.125 million average annual value) he signed with the Oilers on July 13, 2022, and can become an unrestricted free agent at the end of next season.

The Vancouver native sat out the entire regular season with the Oilers because of surgeries to repair a sports hernia and then another on his knee, but he returned for the playoffs and had 12 points (six goals, six assists) in 21 games. He helped Edmonton advance to its second consecutive Stanley Cup Final, where it lost to the Florida Panthers in six games.

“It’s really exciting, I think it’s a good opportunity for me to play at home in front of my family,” Kane said. “Having the Oilers work with me to go to a place I wanted to be and I think it would work well for my family was nice of them, and I’m just really excited to be a Canuck.”

Prior to getting to the NHL, Kane played three seasons with the Vancouver Giants of the Western Hockey League from 2006 to 2009, winning the Memorial Cup in 2007. He was then selected by the Atlanta Thrashers in the first round (No. 4) of the 2009 NHL Draft and has 617 points (326 goals, 291 assists) in 930 regular-season games for the Thrashers, Winnipeg Jets, Buffalo Sabres, San Jose Sharks and Oilers. He also has 55 points (32 goals, 23 assists) in 97 playoff games.

Being closer to family and friends was a factor in Kane wanting to return to Vancouver, but he also believes the Canucks are close to becoming a championship contending team.

Vancouver (38-30-14) finished six points behind the St. Louis Blues for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference this past season after winning the Pacific Division in 2023-24.

Two seasons ago, Vancouver was eliminated by Edmonton in the Western Conference Second Round in seven games.

“Obviously, I didn’t play all this past season, but we played them a couple of years ago in the playoffs and we struggled with them throughout the entire regular season as well,” Kane said. “They’re a tough team to play. They work really hard, they have some great guys on the back end with [Quinn] Hughes leading the way back there. I’m excited to join this group. I don’t know a whole lot of the guys, I think I only know [Tyler Myers] from the past, so I’m looking forward to getting to know everybody and getting integrated with the group.”

Kane signed with Edmonton as a free agent on Jan. 27, 2022, after his contract was terminated by San Jose on Jan. 9, 2022. He did not play for San Jose in 2021-22 after being suspended by the NHL for 21 games for violating NHL COVID-19 protocol.

The 6-foot-2, 218-pound left wing says he has learned from his past experiences and believes he can help the Canucks by providing leadership for younger players.

“Am I a new guy? No, I’m the same guy,” Kane said. “I think if you’re not improving in all aspects of your life then you’re probably not where you want to be, and I don’t think there is anyone in this room that is better off or learned from their mistakes or learned from positive experiences to make them better moving forward.

“For me, Edmonton was great, Edmonton brought me into their organization and embraced me and the city kind of fell in love with me, and I kind of fell in love with the city and we had a lot of on-ice success as well. It was a great experience and I hope that can continue coming home to Vancouver.”

Kane is healthy heading into the upcoming season and feels that missing the entire regular season may be beneficial to him in the long run. He had 44 points (24 goals, 20 assists) in 77 games for Edmonton in 2023-24, the last time he came close to playing an entire regular season.

“Obviously, missing the whole year and having to jump into the playoffs it’s never easy, but I kind of drew on my experience from before playing hurt,” Kane said. “If I feel a lot better on the ice, even though I haven’t played, I think I can contribute in a positive way. I was happy I was able to do that. For me, the time off and getting healthy has allowed me to roll the clock back a little bit in my opinion, and hopefully that can translate on the ice.”