Oilers Have Told Kane’s Agent They’d Like to Keep Him

According to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, the Edmonton Oilers have reached out to Evander Kane’s agent and let him know that they would like to keep Kane in the fold and sign him to an extension for next season, and possibly more. While the NHL, the Oilers and Kane wait for the arbitrator in Kane’s grievance case against the San Jose Sharks to become available, the Oilers might want to try and get a deal done with Kane in the hopes he doesn’t test free agency starting July 13th.

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LeBrun writes:

Holland has also expressed to Evander Kane’s camp that the Oilers are interested in trying to re-sign the pending UFA winger. Agent Dan Milstein is slated to meet with Kane next week to formulate a game plan. I think Kane is interested to hear from the Oilers but there also might be too much allure to hear from the open market.

Milstein also reps Andrei Kuzmenko and the Oilers have shown interest in the KHL free agent as well. One has to wonder if Holland can work with Milstein to land a package deal and get both players signed.

Part of the issue for Edmonton is that Kane’s grievance case could drag out past free agency. If it does, the Oilers could theoretically sign Kane to an extension and then lose the player if the arbitrator sides with Kane and the Sharks retain property of the asset, making the Oilers’ deal with him void. The strategy for Edmonton might be to give Kane such a friendly deal that he chooses to drop his case with San Jose and stay with the Oilers. The alternative would be to work out a deal with Kane, then work out a backup deal with the Sharks so that, in the event Kane goes back to San Jose, a trade to Edmonton immediately follows.

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