Edmonton Journal contributor David Staples offered up three bold predictions for the coming season. Among them: Darnell Nurse could be a bounce-back candidate for the Oilers in 2025-26, Noah Philp could be the team’s breakout star, and — perhaps the most polarizing take of the three — the Oilers might try to reacquire Evander Kane at the trade deadline.
Interestingly, Staples isn’t the only one who has linked Kane back to the Oilers. According to a post by the 2 Mutts Podcast, Kane—now a member of the Vancouver Canucks — remained in Edmonton after the trade to Vancouver, and that conversations about a possible return to the Oilers after his current contract ends have already happened. (Of course, we assume they mean unofficially or not directly between Kane and the Oilers to avoid tampering).
The issue here is that everyone seems to be forgetting the team who traded for Kane, the Vancouver Canucks.
Why Would Vancouver Trade Kane Back To Edmonton?
Even if all of the above were true and Kane was looking to make a return to Edmonton, the Canucks would need to play along. There’s no reason to assume they’re open to doing so. They traded for Kane because they felt he could be an important piece in their retool. The club moved Dakota Joshua almost immediately after to Toronto, meaning that Kane became even more important to Vancouver’s season. If healthy, he’s a bit of a unicorn — a power forward with grit who can score 20-30 goals in any given season.
The Canucks took on Kane’s full cap hit in the deal, meaning they believe he’s got something to offer. Even Kane himself said, “This ownership group and this management group want to win. They want to win now. Playing against them in the playoffs two years ago, they were one game away, and maybe they’re in the Cup Final. I don’t think we’re too far off.” He added, “It’s a good opportunity for me and for my family to play at home. Having the Oilers kind of work with me to go to a place that I wanted to be, and I think would fit well for my family was nice of them, and I am just really excited to be a Canuck.
“Evander is one of those guys who you hate to play against, and you love to have him on your own team,” said Canucks’ GM Patrik Allvin.
Taking into account all of the above comments, there is nothing here to suggest this trade was meant to be temporary.
Could That Change for the Canucks and Kane?
Perhaps one of the reasons so many people are linking Kane back to the Oilers has to do with the Canucks current situation and Kane’s contract. He’s on the final season of his deal and the Canucks are anything but stable.
“Every team is looking to be harder to play against and for us, with the group we have here, when a player like this comes available [at this] cost, we felt we have a chance to upgrade our top-nine [and] middle-six, and become a harder team to play against,” said Allvin. But, what happens if the optics of the season changes for the Canucks? What if they aren’t competitive and they aren’t likely to make the playoffs? What then?
For Kane, he’ll be able to test the market on July 1 and if he’s thinking he might see what’s out there, the Canucks would be better off selling him at the trade deadline for a return. The Oilers, incidentally, could use another power forward who likes Edmonton, has history with the team and could theoretically rejoin them as a free agent on a discount deal, should he so choose.
There’s a slight problem. The Canucks can’t retain salary on a player if they trade them back to the team they came from. That would mean either Edmonton takes on Kane’s full cap hit (unlikely unless LTIR plays a role), or there’s some wizardry done to get a third team involved to retain before Kane comes back to the Oilers.
And, this is assuming the Oilers leadership group wants Kane back. That’s still a maybe.
