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

[VainGretzky]

He is on pace for 55 points playing hurt and some 3rd line games I'm not worried, 50 plus points is nothing to complain about considering he gets very few PP minutes

 

[belair]

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.

 

[K1984]

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.

$5.12M?

That's market rate for a bare average top 6 player at the moment. If you want a line driver that's $7+

 

[Tarus]

He's made a few comments this year about his role/ice time this year, he clearly gets a bit disgruntled when he doesn't get a feature role in the top six regardless of whether the demotion is deserved or not. As long as he's not a distraction behind the scenes, hard to care much what he says to the media guys though, but that's not something we get to know much about.

Main thing is that he's clearly injured, saw a clip of him hobbling off the ice last night and limping down the hall to the player's room. Injuries are starting to become a real concern as he heads into his mid-30s, and hopefully he can get/stay healthy for the playoffs. Would be nice if he was a bit more patient when his skating and ability to engage on the ice is compromised, but I think this is just the kind of thing that is part of his set character at this point.

 

[belair]

$5.12M?

That's market rate for a bare average top 6 player at the moment. If you want a line driver that's $7+

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.

 

[Porkleaker]

Watching Kane walk out for the pre-game skate yesterday, he was hobbling like Tiger Woods at Augusta after coming back from his car crash. He's definitely fighting through some injuries but there are not many players I'd want for a long playoff run on this team over him. He'll be a difference maker when it counts as long as he can get healthy.

All this noise about Kane is just that. I was more concerned about Brown's hissyfit slamming the door at practice for the 1 game he was scratched against the Devils because apparently, in his mind, it wasn't deserved.

LTIR until playoffs? Success...

 

[MoontoScott]

726 posts on this thing? You'd almost think that Puls was back in town.

 

[MoontoScott]

In isolation- no, but he seems to make a point to add a line about his usage in every interview. I find that concerning

He's a bit of a yapper but on the other hand its refreshing to not hear the Charm School reply--it gets old.....

-Just have to keep working
-Win those puck battles
-Wait for your breaks
-Pick up your man coming back into the zone
-Finish the check
-We knew we had the right mind set coming in

Yawn................

 

[alanschu]

No

 

[Bring Back Bucky]

No, close thread. WTF 726 posts.

I heard the opportunity line too. It’s nothing. Zero need to drum up negativity when this team is on this historical heater. Especially when Kane produced in the 2nd line too.

Man I hardly equate post count with wisdom

 

[K1984]

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.

Well Evander Kane isn't a 3rd line style player so this makes no sense. I wouldn't expect Jordan Eberle to drive a 3rd line either even though he's a top 6 player and paid appropriately for his role.

Other players making a fraction of that aren't relevant in our circumstance, frankly. Short of developing one ourselves (which didn't happen), or getting lucky having a guy unexpectedly pop off after joining your team, you simply will not get a Top6 winger of any similar quality for less than $5M on the market.

UFA or trade was the only way for us to get top 6 forwards when we were hunting for them, so players at UFA or trade prices is what we get.

 

[TheNumber4]

726 posts is new now? lol

Man I hardly equate post count with wisdom

I don’t either. In fact I interact with new accounts all the time in good faith. But it makes me suspicious it could be an occasionally used alt account. Barely posts here and then a thread that shit disturbs a bit. I’m not saying that’s what OP is cause his recent post history seems reasonable enough.

 

[belair]

Well Evander Kane isn't a 3rd line style player so this makes no sense. I wouldn't expect Jordan Eberle to drive a 3rd line either even though he's a top 6 player and paid appropriately for his role.

Other players making a fraction of that aren't relevant in our circumstance, frankly. Short of developing one ourselves (which didn't happen), or getting lucky having a guy unexpectedly pop off after joining your team, you simply will not get a Top6 winger of any similar quality for less than $5M on the market.

UFA or trade was the only way for us to get top 6 forwards when we were hunting for them, so players at UFA or trade prices is what we get.

We've seen numerous examples of this team finding depth wingers that can produce in those roles. Foegele and McLeod most recently.

It's counterproductive having all of that salary tied up in your scoring lines if it means that your prospects and cheap supporting role players are required to make sure on makeshift 'checking lines'. How do develop a scoring winger if that opportunity isn't available?

 

[K1984]

We've seen numerous examples of this team finding depth wingers that can produce in those roles. Foegele and McLeod most recently.

It's counterproductive having all of that salary tied up in your scoring lines if it means that your prospects and cheap supporting role players are required to make sure on makeshift 'checking lines'. How do develop a scoring winger if that opportunity isn't available?

Foegele and McLeod aren't in the same league as Kane in any sense of the word, and the last two weeks where they have found their game and Kane has faltered due to a combo of injury and circumstance doesn't change that whatsoever.

We tried going the discount route for top 6 wingers and that got us the results we had in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021. I don't think it's a coincidence that our fortunes changed basically the moment Kane and Hyman were brought in rather than try and roll the dice striking gold with Rattie, Rieder, Chaisson, Kahun, Nygard, etc, etc.

Discount wingers that produce are products of timing and luck, there is no way to plan to get them that also follows a competitive timeline that we are in. When your scoring lines both produce massively, all you really need is a saw off bottom 6 that pushes the puck in the right direction and doesn't hurt you, which is what we pretty much have now. If we had a scoring winger prospect worth a damn I'm sure he'd be getting looks, but we don't.

 

[tiger_80]

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)

Does not he play with Draisaitl?

 

[OilerMcLord]

Thanks for all of the knowledgeable and insightful replies!

I appreciate everyone’s opinions!

 

[belair]

Foegele and McLeod aren't in the same league as Kane in any sense of the word, and the last two weeks where they have found their game and Kane has faltered due to a combo of injury and circumstance doesn't change that whatsoever.

Never suggested that they were. The logic is about spreading out the team's limited resources to parts of the roster that don't necessarily thrive. We witnessed a period of time where the first and second line thrived with Kane on the outside. That to me is eye-opening.

Picture Kane's money paying for a third line center who elevates the tertiary role players. How does that hurt the roster assuming there's a role always available in the top six that is essentially a carrot for players who earn it?

We tried going the discount route for top 6 wingers and that got us the results we had in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021. I don't think it's a coincidence that our fortunes changed basically the moment Kane and Hyman were brought in rather than try and roll the dice striking gold with Rattie, Rieder, Chaisson, Kahun, Nygard, etc, etc.

Discount wingers that produce are products of timing and luck, there is no way to plan to get them that also follows a competitive timeline that we are in. When your scoring lines both produce massively, all you really need is a saw off bottom 6 that pushes the puck in the right direction and doesn't hurt you, which is what we pretty much have now. If we had a scoring winger prospect worth a damn I'm sure he'd be getting looks, but we don't.

Kane made an impact in year one. That has been diminishing ever since. And yes, a big part of that was his freak injury. But that doesn't discount the likelihood of his game continuing to falter. He's streaky. He's prone to taking bad penalties. And he's a frequent play killer. You get good and you get bad.

I'm suggesting we move him at some point because he has value. I cash that chip today knowing we have the assets replace his impact. Continuing to hope he can match that impact year over year means that we have to watch a guy like Foegele walk in FA.

 

[McBooya42]

He's made a few comments this year about his role/ice time this year, he clearly gets a bit disgruntled when he doesn't get a feature role in the top six regardless of whether the demotion is deserved or not. As long as he's not a distraction behind the scenes, hard to care much what he says to the media guys though, but that's not something we get to know much about.

Main thing is that he's clearly injured, saw a clip of him hobbling off the ice last night and limping down the hall to the player's room. Injuries are starting to become a real concern as he heads into his mid-30s, and hopefully he can get/stay healthy for the playoffs. Would be nice if he was a bit more patient when his skating and ability to engage on the ice is compromised, but I think this is just the kind of thing that is part of his set character at this point.

He's playing through some stuff for sure, but he still wants to contribute. He may just need to just rest for a bit to get back to playing better, like we know he can. It's close to the break though, and I could see him wanting to ride it out. I know Kane is proud of what he can do, and wants to help the team, but he needs to think of this as the coach doing what he can to both still give him an opportunity and make it easier on him physically.

Kane, Drai, and Tarasenko would be killer though, wouldn't it? Imagine a 100% healthy Kaner too.

 

[McTonyBrar]

No. This garbage is taken out of context and is baloney. Fans are trying to find someone or something to hate on because they can’t complain about the team that much anymore.

Fans my ass. They can f*** off

 

[sepHF]

I'm sure it's a bit frustrating for him

when he first came to Edmonton he played with McDavid and put up basically a PPG, by far his best career pace. Followed that up with 13g in 15 games in the playoffs. Then he gets hurt the next season and struggles to return to form. This year he's basically been relegated to the bottom 6 since Knoblauch was hired and doesnt get the same opportunity with the big dogs like he did under Woodcroft

It's hard to make adjustments though when the team is winning so it's also hard to blame the coach. You can see Knob trying to get him some extra minutes and shifts with Drai/McDavid lately

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

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

No

 

[Mav3rick07]

Is this the quote that everyone on Twitter was losing their shit over today ? Wow.

He literally said he's been given an opportunity which is an honest and positive answer. How dare he respond like a normal person.

 

[Arpeggio]

Just to follow up on my post earlier, I don't agree that this is a reason to be concerned, or that the fans should be blowing up on twitter over this. It's totally fine for Kane to speak his mind and express frustration with ice time. I just think it's possible that he is upset about it.

I don't think bringing this up is stirring the pot on this forum (or at least it shouldn't be).

 

[PositiveCashFlow]

I think that everyone being so concerned about his answer is a concern

 

[Draiskull]

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.

Horrible take. How is Kane is a third liner? If he is then so is Nuge. Maybe we should replace him with another Connor Brown or go after a cheaper Tobias Rieder or Kahun.