Should we be concerned about Evander Kane's recent comments?

[Stoneman89]

I concur with the reports/rumours that he has a core injury. Something like that takes time to go away and can really affect your play. Losing 1/2 a step in this league is brutal and can mean the difference between success and failure. He needs to heal up and then he'll start winning battles and producing. Some people on here forget that earlier in the season when the entire team was struggling badly, he was about about one of our few bright spots along with Foegele and was producing. You can feel some of the frustration in his statements as he doesn't want to use it as an excuse.

 

[RandomGuy79]

I always love how fans dissect a comment made by a player for hours/days trying to decipher it. Kane probably doesn't even remember what he said the next day.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Play better and you get better opportunities. Quit bitching to the media. Oiler fan does not take well to selfish players.

Yep. Mark Messier lost it on Ken Linseman when he was making these sorts of comments. Nobody is bigger than the team. Linseman had to be told everything is team first, not serving individual first.

I get that Kane is frustrated that he's fallen down the lineup and that several forwards are way better than he is. When he came here he was arguably third behind only McD and Drai. Now he's pretty clearly been passed standing still by Hyman and Nuge. With them both claiming the PP spots as well, and rightfully so.

In truth for the last month even Foegele and McLeod have been better options than Kane. Thats on Kane, nobody else.

I always love how fans dissect a comment made by a player for hours/days trying to decipher it. Kane probably doesn't even remember what he said the next day.

haha. I did laugh. Nothing else much to talk about.

This is better than talking about Connor Brown. lol

I wouldn't say your wrong.

Just part of the fan stuff. Most of us love talking about stuff connected with the team.

Aside from that we need somebody to spark up the bottomsix. With Gagner out and Foegele and McLeod elevated its lacked spark.

 

[ujju2]

He's a confident player. But he's mature enough to know that he'll create a distraction if he says much more than that.

Players like him need to earn their icetime. Last night was good night for him. But if the plays continue to die with him, those 'opportunities' won't be there in abundance.

I'm still of the belief that a player making his money should be able to drive their own line.

Not in today's cap world. Maybe 5 or 10 years ago. Kane is paid comparably to Nuge and Hyman, and while I absolutely love both of those guys, they don't really have the ability to singlehandedly drive their lines either.

 

[TheNumber4]

I have to stay consistent on my takes on Kane and his fit with the team. Which is why I will be refraining from blaming him or making too big of a deal in relation to any of his off ice “antics”. It’s my Dennis Rodman theory on Kane. Look we ALL knew before signing him that he had certain eccentric traits that could rub people the wrong way. We knew what we were getting with him, and the hope was that as a team and a fanbase we would accept those traits in order to give him the best environment to succeed for US. I remain committed to the Kane experiment and hope it pays off in a big way in the playoffs. He will show it tonight against the flames as he psychologically and physically dominates Kadri.

My posts on Kane = Our Rodman before we signed him:

Could Kane be our Rodman? Had off court and on court issues with the Spurs to the point they got rid of him. Went to the Bulls where he was still eccentric and would have rubbed teammates the wrong way. But Jordan and friends let it slide and let him be himself cause they valued him so highly as a player. I hope we can do the same and find Kane a home here. He’s a perfect fit.

Maybe Kane can be our Rodman. Talented player with controversial off court issues. MJ and Pippen let Rodman do his thing, as long as Rodman brought it on the court. Maybe we can for the same for Kane, let him be himself, no judgements, but expect that he brings it every time he steps on the ice.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Not in today's cap world. Maybe 5 or 10 years ago. Kane is paid comparably to Nuge and Hyman, and while I absolutely love both of those guys, they don't really have the ability to singlehandedly drive their lines either.

Nuge seems to be the best at it as well as Drai.

 

[belair]

Not in today's cap world. Maybe 5 or 10 years ago. Kane is paid comparably to Nuge and Hyman, and while I absolutely love both of those guys, they don't really have the ability to singlehandedly drive their lines either.

I'm not talking about a scoring line. I'm talking about a depth line. A guy making $5m shouldn't need a consistent offensive push to be a positive contributor. His game fell off the earth this year on a checking line. If this team wasn't on a heater, it would've been a much bigger story.

I have a hard time seeing him being flipped in season, but it's not out of the realm of possibility that we start looking to moving the rest of his contract to give us the ability to retain some of these depth players.

 

[Sra1974]

FTR I was one of the biggest fans of Kane coming here. Can't speak for others but I was the one immediately spelling out that the rumors from SJ and from the ex were false. That said theres nothing wrong with Kane being expected to play around the lineup. Its not always going to be playing with McD or Drai. It seems Kane is chaffed about that.


Not sure who you refer to in that. Again I wanted Kane here. Supported it all along. But Kane should accept all usage and recognize that KK is using minutes very well and spreading them out to keep the players fresh. Why is Kane complaining. We know before when he made the comment it was complaining about minutes and usage. Well he did it again.

I guess I’m not jumping to the conclusions he’s complaining about it. Everyone wants more opportunities, especially if he’s an offensive player. Lots of people are jumping to some conclusion here and inferring he’s now a problem when we don’t actually have evidence of that outside of this clip,

 

[AM]

I liked all of his answers. Internal competition is the gold standard for making a good team.

 

[Mr Positive]

I liked all of his answers. Internal competition is the gold standard for making a good team.

not only that but a great team should be a mix. It should not just be a mix of talent, but a mix of personalities. Kane has been a great contributor when we've really needed him, and this attitude he has now is the same as he's always had. And yes, there's bad with the good, but nothing worthwhile is easy. It's up to the team leaders and Knoblauch to always smooth this over.

 

[GhostfaceWu]

A third line one? I'm not just talking about offense either.

We're in an era where depth wingers are criminally undervalued. Plenty of examples of guy that score at a similar clip making a fraction of that. In a time where we're pinching pennies in vital roles as a contending team, Draisaitl and McDavid shouldn't both be strapped to two wingers making competitive salaries.

You can't expect Kane to be a line driver when his linemates are Derek Ryan and janmark.

 

[belair]

You can't expect Kane to be a line driver when his linemates are Derek Ryan and janmark.

I don't expect that line to blow the doors off. I expect them to keep their heads above water and push possession against the lesser competition they usually play. When a player of Kane's calibre compliments those two, one would assume their production might get a bit of a bump.

 

[Stoneman89]

Much ado about nothing.

 

[ujju2]

Thought he had his best game in a while tonight... hopefully a sign that his health continues to improve.

 

[Rpenny]

After last night's win against the Kraken, Evander was asked about his line and what was working. Evander replied, "Just getting opportunity."

It had been previously noted that Evander was unhappy about being moved out of the top 6. With the Oilers current success, it seems that everyone is buying in. Could this comment be construed as counter productive?

Again, I am not trying to create a problem when there is none. I have been a big Evander fan since he found a home in Edmonton and cleaned up his reputation. I just thought his comment seemed strange.

I need my Oilers experts to weigh in on whether I am overthinking this. Thanks!

Here is the clip: (The comment is made between 01:05 and 01:14)

Yep