Insider Elliotte Friedman recently shared his thoughts on what it would take to trade for Evander Kane from the Canucks.
Kane’s career is struggling in Vancouver
If you’re a fan of Evander Kane, it must be really hard to watch his career go downhill so quickly. He used to be a key player who scored a lot of points no matter where he played.
When he joined the Edmonton Oilers in the 2021-22 season, there was some drama off the ice, but he made a strong start once he began playing with his new team.
Elliotte Friedman: Re Evander Kane: I think they’d do a mid round pick and [salary] retention – Donnie & Dhali (2/2)
— NHL Rumour Report (@NHLRumourReport) February 7, 2026
Kane agreed to a four-year contract worth $5.125 million per year with the Oilers. In the 2021-22 regular season, he managed to score 22 goals and provide 17 assists in 43 games. He also tied for the most goals in that year’s playoffs with 13.
Then, on June 25, 2025, he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks for a fourth-round draft pick. This trade mostly happened because the Oilers wanted to reduce their salary costs since Kane was valued quite a bit at that time.
After having a disappointing season with Vancouver, Kane’s value has dropped a lot, and because he has a $5.125 million salary cap hit, he’s not worth much on the open market right now.
His value would be even less if Vancouver doesn’t pay some of his salary. Reports suggest that a third-round pick might be reasonable if they cover half of his salary, but I think it could take a fourth or fifth-round pick to make this trade happen.
Vancouver is not very interested in keeping Kane, so they will probably accept any offer they get.
Recently, it was mentioned that the Dallas Stars are interested in Kane. Their team has been facing injuries, and they need a good winger for their top six.
Kane has shown he can perform well in the playoffs, and on a team like Dallas, he could really make a difference with their tough style of play.
The article also stated that asking for a fifth or sixth-round draft pick for Evander seems fair.
At this stage of his career, having another chance to play in the playoffs would be a big win for Kane.
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