Oilers' Evander Kane: 3 Potential Trade Destinations
EDMONTON -- The best day of the year is almost here.
Trade Deadline day is almost upon the hockey world and the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers are in a unique position that separates them from every other team.
On March 1st, Evander Kane had to submit a 16-team approved trade list to the Oilers. On Elliotte Friedman's Saturday Headlines, he reported that the Oilers were gauging the market to see if there was a fit anywhere.
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With that being said, what teams have the cap space and the desire to add a player like Kane to their roster? What teams or organizations are desirable locations for Kane to put on his 16-team list? Here are three potential options that might interest the Oilers' power forward.
The Boston Bruins and Kane seem like a matchmaker's dream. Kane plays the bruising brand of hockey that has become synonymous with the Bruins.
Kane would step into the role that Milan Lucic vacated after he left the Bruins following a leave of absence tied to a domestic altercation. Kane would immediately slide into the Bruins' top-six forward group. Despite a 3-5-2 record in their last 10 games, the Bruins are only two points behind the final Wild Card position in the Eastern Conference.
The Bruins have $5.793 million in deadline cap space, allowing them to absorb Kane's contract without the Oilers needing to retain any salary. Now, would Kane have the Bruins on his allowed trade list? Given the organization's history and reputation around the league, it's safe to say that they could easily be on his list.
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The Utah Hockey Club might only be in their first season in the NHL, but they are within striking distance of the second Western Conference Wild Card spot. They are two points behind the last Wild Card position, currently occupied by the Vancouver Canucks.
The rest of the league had better look out because Utah could be a big buyer regarding the trade deadline. They currently have $28.522 million in deadline cap space. Not only could they take on Kane's contract, but they could also add multiple pieces without batting an eye.
The most significant question mark in this potential scenario is whether Kane considers the Utah Hockey Club a good enough team to put on his list. Given the excitement surrounding the organization, it's easy to think that Utah could have squeaked in.
The final potential landing spot for a Kane deal is a scary one. However, it shouldn't be overlooked.
The Florida Panthers put Matthew Tkachuk on LTIR on Sunday. This now gives the Panthers $8.7 million in cap space to acquire more players before Friday's deadline.
Trade details, per sources:To #TimeToHunt:D Seth Jones2026 4th Round PickTo #Blackhawks:2026 1st Round PickG Spencer Knight#Blackhawks retain $2.5 million on Jones for next 5 seasons. Pick slides to 2027 if Florida doesn't have 2026.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) March 2, 2025
On Saturday, they made a big splash by acquiring right-handed veteran defender Seth Jones from the Chicago Blackhawks. Because of that, they naturally would look to add a forward who could provide a scoring touch with a side of snarl.
Despite the rivalry between the Panthers and Oilers, it's easy to see why Kane would put the Panthers on his allowed trade list. They are fresh from a Stanley Cup and have as good of a chance as the Oilers to go all the way. Also, Florida doesn't have taxes so that he could keep more of his money.
Given these teams' playoff positions, current cap space, and desirable locations, Kane could easily have included them on his allowed trade list.
Oilers fans must wait until Friday to see if these destinations come to fruition.
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New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
How the Oilers are drawing inspiration from a resilient dog sled musher: ‘It's about everyone'
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The Edmonton Oilers have adopted the mantra of 'We all pull in the same direction' for these playoffs. A sign is hung in their dressing room, home and away, whenever the players are present, with the No. 16 — the number of wins it takes to claim the Stanley Cup — and the emblem of a dog sled musher racing with his team. Advertisement The imagery is not coincidental. The Oilers received a motivational speech from musher Jason Campeau before the playoffs, and his message has served to help unite them and spur them ahead during difficult times. Now would be one of them, as the Oilers trail the Florida Panthers 2-1 in the Stanley Cup Final heading into Game 4 on Thursday. 'I love the fact of, it really does take everyone to do something great,' Campeau said. 'When I look at that message, it's so relatable to this team.' Coach Kris Knoblauch sought someone to rally the group when the Oilers had a bit of downtime in San Jose during their final preparations before their first-round series in Los Angeles. Campeau came recommended by Oilers psychologist Dr. Marty Mrazik. Campeau, 50, checked off a lot of boxes. He's a former hockey player. While playing for the North Bay Centennials, Campeau scored the winning goal of the 1994 Ontario Hockey League final in overtime against a Detroit Junior Red Wings squad coached by Paul Maurice. He went on to play for the University of New Brunswick and attended training camp with the Toronto Maple Leafs before injuries halted his career. He was also successful in the business world. He owned and sold a technology company, which allowed him to retire and start dog sledding a decade ago. Campeau fulfilled a boyhood dream sparked by driving past a dog sled touring company in central Ontario while on summer family vacations. But the biggest reason Mrazik thought Campeau would be the perfect candidate to speak with the Oilers was because he had worked with him before — after a catastrophic accident during a dog sled race that almost cost Campeau his life. 'To hear from somebody who goes through very difficult times and something completely different than hockey was inspiring,' Oilers center Adam Henrique said. 'It was motivation to us,' goalie Stuart Skinner said. 'It brought things to light. That's where things started in the sense of really making sure we stick together going into the playoffs and through each series. It's not easy, but it's not easy what he does.' Campeau was approximately one-tenth of the way through the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest in 2018 when he saw another musher slide out of control while charging up Rosebud Summit, one of the sharpest peaks in dog sled racing. Instinctively, Campeau tried to help as the other team slid down the cliff, but that sent his sled off-kilter and sent him toppling face-first to the icy tundra. Advertisement He was unconscious for approximately 10 minutes. 'The remarkable part of all that is, if I'm not hanging on, the dogs typically would have taken an easy path and just gone right back down the mountain,' Campeau said. 'I got up and I remember every single dog holding the line tight, facing upwards on the mountain, just staring at me, ready to go, which is unheard of.' With his dogs by his side, Campeau felt he could continue. It wasn't until a day later that he realized he wasn't functioning properly, after they'd made it nearly 300 miles down the trail. At first, Campeau thought he was just sleep-deprived, but he kept stumbling and falling over as he fed and bedded his dogs, approximately 50 miles beyond Eagle, Alaska. His body shut down. He eventually passed out from a severe concussion with none of the other racers around, with his parka unzipped amid temperatures below 50 degrees Fahrenheit. 'It came down to life or death,' Campeau said. Other dogs might have left in a similar situation. Campeau's pack of Alaskan Huskies didn't. He's forever thankful to them, especially Spider, whom he compared to Oilers captain Connor McDavid as his 'generational dog.' Spider and the rest of the dogs stayed with him until a trapper and his son found him later that day. He's not sure if they would have noticed him without all the dogs around. They transported Campeau, badly injured and hypothermic, to their nearby home. 'They slowly brought me back to life,' Campeau said. A United States military helicopter was called to transport Campeau to a hospital in Fairbanks, Alaska, but a wicked storm prevented his rescue until the following morning. Campeau asked to see his dogs before he was stretchered into the chopper. 'I'll always remember that,' he said. 'We built a bond, (to) where we're inseparable.' Advertisement Campeau had finished one Quest and two Iditarods — the Stanley Cup of dog sled races — in the years prior to his 2018 harrowing experience. His story resonated with the Oilers. 'He's out there by himself, but, at the same time, with a team,' Henrique said. 'He's got to rely on those dogs, literally, for survival. Everything is on the line. Trying to compare that to what we do — putting everything on the line every single night — it's not life and death, but it's win or lose. We've almost been able to have that mentality as the group. 'With the dogs and what he went through and how we persevered through that, at times, whether we're up or down, you try to bring those same thoughts into what we're doing.' Campeau said he's always trained his dogs to be able to fulfill any role on his team. It's not unlike the Oilers during this playoff run. Mushers typically have 16 dogs on their team, grouped in pairs. The first two are the lead dogs, such as Spider. The second two are the swing dogs, secondary leaders. Then you have the team dogs making up the next five pairs before the wheel dogs — which Campeau equates to the goaltenders — in front of the sled. Campeau believes every dog plays a key role in a musher's success. He sees parallels with the makeup of the Oilers this spring, especially considering all the injuries they had entering the postseason. 'Everyone had to come in and buy in right away,' Campeau said. 'You needed everyone on the same page. The first two games (against Los Angeles) didn't go as planned, but since that point no one's looked back.' Naturally, McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are most often at the front of the pack, but the Oilers have needed others to step into that role, too. They wouldn't be in the thick of the Stanley Cup Final again if not for Evan Bouchard's heroics late in the first round and subsequent play, or a couple of monster performances from Evander Kane, or Kasperi Kapanen's overtime winner to knock out the Vegas Golden Knights, or Skinner's three shutouts. The way their defense stepped up without Mattias Ekholm — a regular swing dog — was crucial to them winning three rounds. For the last four games, they've been carrying on without winger Zach Hyman, another swing-dog candidate. Advertisement 'It's just like the dogs,' Campeau said. 'If one of your main leaders went down, someone from the back of the team might step up and fill that role. 'If you had one dog that wasn't fully pulling, the team wasn't running efficiently.' Campeau expressed the importance of relying on your teammates during his April conversation with the team. There are times, he said, when he's been racing amid whiteouts and couldn't see a thing, so he'd have to trust his dogs to guide the way for up to 200 miles without him making a single command. 'With the team, it's about trusting that guy beside you and finding a different level,' Campeau said. The Oilers have certainly relied on everyone. They've used 14 forwards and nine defensemen. Twenty of those 23 skaters have scored a goal in the playoffs. Both goaltenders have contributed at least six wins. Knoblauch said Wednesday there will likely be a lineup change for the pivotal Game 4 as the Oilers look to even the series. Whether that's Troy Stecher replacing John Klingberg, Jeff Skinner coming in for the banged-up Ryan Nugent-Hopkins or Calvin Pickard getting the start in net, the team's approach won't change. 'Everyone's got a role to play. It's about everyone,' said winger Trent Frederic, who returned from an ankle injury for the start of the playoffs. 'You've just got to hop in the pack and run with it and pull your part.' They'll be drawing on inspiration from Campeau, whose dog sledding days didn't end after he nearly died in that 2018 race. He wouldn't go out like that. He competed in his third Iditarod the following year. 'I loved the challenge,' Campeau said. 'The harder it got, the more I liked it.' Campeau's dog sledding career is on hiatus right now. He was training a young team to compete a couple of years ago until he suffered another major concussion, the result of a head-on car collision in Southern Alberta. He aims to run Iditarod again, and he plans to win. 'That's life,' he said. 'You face challenges. You're going to get knocked down many times. When you face adversity, you can't let it define you.' Advertisement Campeau has been around the Oilers intermittently throughout the playoffs, depending on his duties at his ranch, located a 30-minute drive west of Rocky Mountain House, Alta. He was in Edmonton for the start of the Final, didn't travel to Florida but will be back in the Alberta capital for Game 5. Maybe, just maybe, he'll be able to witness the Oilers winning the Stanley Cup soon, after his speech sparked their playoff slogan. 'I take pride in being just a small little part, but I love the message,' Campeau said. 'As far as this team goes, you can tell that they're destined. 'I just see the drive and the passion from the top down. It's incredible.' (Top photo of Jason Campeau at 2019 Iditarod: Courtesy of Jason Campeau)
New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
Are the Panthers in the Oilers' heads? After ugly Game 3, Edmonton knows it must play its own style
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Playing the Florida Panthers can, at times, be like mental warfare. They have mastered the art of walking right up to the line and then not crossing it right when their opponent's head is ready to explode. They'll provoke you into a cross-check, slash or punch — sometimes, all of the above — then skate away with a satisfied grin. Advertisement Just look at the way Sam Bennett let Trent Frederic punch him in the back of the head, cross-check him twice — the final so fierce that Frederic's stick broke across Bennett's left arm — then grab him by his jersey in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final. Bennett refused to engage before a line brawl was incited. 'Sometimes you've got to take a punch,' Bennett said Wednesday. In wrestling terms, this is a team that plays the heel perfectly. They admit a big part of their aggressive, aggravating game plan is pushing you to the brink of boiling over. Opponents know it's coming. When you're facing a team that has Bennett, Matthew Tkachuk, Brad Marchand and Aaron Ekblad, plus hard-nosed energy guys such as Jonah Gadjovich and A.J. Greer, you know you're going to have to deal with trash talking, big hits, top players being checked hard, sneaky extracurriculars and little room to operate. But knowing it's coming doesn't mean being able to counter it. And when an opponent's frustration sets in, as it did for the Edmonton Oilers in Monday's 6-1 Panthers pounding, Florida wins in more ways than just the scoreboard. 'That's part of their DNA,' Oilers star Leon Draisaitl said. 'That's what they do. I think there's spurts in the series when we've handled it really well. (Monday) night, the game's over with 11 minutes left and all hell breaks loose. It's a UFC fight. I think overall, we can be a little more disciplined and stay away from that.' Everything stemmed from Trent Frederic breaking his stick with cross-checks on Sam Bennett 😳 — Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) June 10, 2025 Indeed, in the third period of Game 3, the Oilers looked like a bunch of lumberjacks, two-handing Panthers players in the back of the legs shift after shift. Sure, they knew the game was out of hand by that point, and it's common in that situation to, as Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch so eloquently said, 'make investments for the next game.' Advertisement But this felt different, even if the Oilers denied losing their scruples. 'It's an emotional time,' Draisaitl said. 'It's two teams that want to win — two teams doing it their own way — but I don't think anybody is going crazy here. They're good at what they do, but (Monday) night was the first night where it got out of hand a little bit. The game's over, it's 5-1 and it's not a big deal. We have guys that are intense. They like getting in those situations just as much as they do.' Even before the game got out of hand, though, the Oilers took four first-period penalties, including cross-checking and high-sticking minors to Evander Kane. Kane would later slash a fallen Carter Verhaeghe in the face right after he was two-handed by Evan Bouchard. Evander Kane tried to sneak this one in but got caught in the process#LetsGoOilers | #TimeToHunt — Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) June 10, 2025 Earlier in the game, Bouchard cross-checked Anton Lundell, who fell quickly to the ice before being punched again by Jake Walman. The Oilers accused the Panthers during the game of diving (Lundell and Sergei Bobrovsky) and turtling (Tkachuk wanting no part of fighting Kane). 'They seem to get away with it more than we do,' Kane said afterward. 'It's tough to find the line. They're doing just as much stuff as we are.' The Panthers do get away with plenty. As Marchand said, they know that the refs 'can't call everything all the time.' There was one shift in the first period on Monday where Bennett looked like he committed two penalties on Draisaitl that went uncalled. But what's so hard for opponents is that the Panthers are unrelenting with their in-your-face style — and also at turning the other cheek. One of their biggest improvements over the past couple of years under Paul Maurice has been after-whistle discipline. Advertisement 'It used to be a lot worse,' Verhaeghe said. 'We'd engage a lot more. But I think over the years, we realized that it doesn't really help anything and that you play hard between the whistles, but the after-whistle stuff only hurts us. 'We do a good job drawing penalties. We'll take that. But I think two or three years ago when we made it to the Final (against the Vegas Golden Knights), we were a pretty undisciplined team. After the whistle, we'd be involved in scrums and everything like that. And then we realized that it didn't really help our game and nothing good would happen from it.' Added Greer, 'We have to play in between whistles, especially with a team that has such a good power play. We try to frustrate them with how little time they have with the puck. So if a guy's coming up the ice, if our D man has a good gap on him, he has to chip in, and then he gets held up — he has nothing to do. 'All he's doing is chasing the puck. He gets frustrated, and that translates to stuff after the whistle. For us, that's how we're trying to frustrate them, is by playing a tight defensive game and not letting them have any open ice or any chances to get to that net. That's how we have to play. That's how we have to frustrate them, and then that'll translate to us getting power plays, right? That's how we view it, and that's how our game plan is.' Of course, the Panthers can be sneaky, too, like when Greer removed Walman's glove and casually tossed it onto Florida's bench. That led to Walman squirting a water bottle between the benches, a move that resulted in one of Walman's two $5,000 fines stemming from Game 3. Walman was spraying water at the Panthers bench 👀 — B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) June 10, 2025 'We have plenty of water on our bench,' Greer said, sarcastically. 'We've got great trainers, great training staff. We've got Gatorade. We've got water, BodyArmor. We've got some nice stuff over there.' Greer's other fine was for repeatedly punching Tkachuk in the face as John Klingberg held Tkachuk's head. Advertisement Tkachuk is a common factor in a lot of this. The hate between him and Kane, in particular, is real. As Kane said before the series, 'We know what he's about. There's never a lot of backup to that talk.' Or as Kane said after Game 1, 'What's it like (playing Tkachuk)? It's like any player. He just talks a little more.' Jake Walman just gave a couple rights to Matthew Tkachuk 😳👊 — Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) June 10, 2025 But even Tkachuk has toned down the after-whistle shenanigans. His first year in Florida, Tkachuk averaged 1.55 penalty minutes per game (123 in 79 games). Last season, it was down to 1.1 (88 in 80 games). This past regular season, 1.03. 'You take a look at Matthew Tkachuk's penalties, the line graph of his penalties, and there's a significant drop after his first six months here, with the exception of whenever he and (brother) Brady play against each other,' Maurice quipped. 'Then there's this one game spike.' Maurice also agreed that it's the Panthers' style between the whistles that frustrates opponents. In his mind, absorbing the punches and stick infractions and skating away is part of paying the price in the playoffs. As Tkachuk said after Game 3, the Panthers talked during the third period about, 'If you have to take a punch, take a punch. If you have to take a cross-check, take a cross-check. Spear, slash in the face, whatever the case is, you've got to take it.' When Bouchard and Kane went after Verhaeghe, he lived those words. 'It's just smart,' Verhaeghe said. 'Let them go to the box all night.' And that's what the Oilers will have to avoid the rest of the series. After Game 3, they've got to know that the Panthers are trying to sucker them into the nonsense. 'We know what they are,' defenseman Mattias Ekholm said. 'We got experience of playing them last year, and I think it's more on us as players. That's their brand. That's what they do. That's what they do really well. But at the same time, we've won four games against them in these Finals in the last two years. And I think if you look at those games, we're a very focused group. We play our game. We don't let that even creep in a little bit. Maybe we lost that a little bit (Monday) night, but we know what to do.' Advertisement Same with the Panthers. 'We have a really focused group this year,' Bennett said. 'Our eyes are on one thing and one thing only, and guys are going to stick up for each other. Guys are going to stand up for each other. But we have one goal in mind, and all the other stuff is just distracting and just to try to get you off your game. We have one goal in mind, and that's all that we're really worried about.' (Photo of Jonah Gadjovich, Trent Frederic and Sam Bennett: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
San Francisco Chronicle
2 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Panthers can move to the verge of winning the Stanley Cup again if they beat the Oilers in Game 4
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Leading the Stanley Cup Final 2-1, the Florida Panthers can move to the verge of a second consecutive championship if they beat the Edmonton Oilers in Game 4 at home Thursday night. The Panthers were upbeat and relaxed at their final full practice before the potential swing game, with players downplaying the gravity of the situation. 'I feel like every game's so big during this time," center Anton Lundell said Wednesday. 'The stakes gets higher. Everybody wants to win. But we both know for both teams it's a big game, and we want to be good.' They were more than good in Game 3, routing the Oilers 6-1 to take control of a series that looked evenly matched after a bunch of overtime hockey and a split in Edmonton. 'Usually you get teams' best after that, I think especially with the players they have in the room, how competitive they are, they're going to look to bounce back," said Brad Marchand, who is tied with teammate Sam Bennett for the most goals in the final with four apiece. "When you have that kind of leadership, they normally lead the way, those top guys. That's a dangerous combination. We have to make sure that we bring our best.' The Panthers are nearing full strength at a time of year usually known for players gutting through injuries, with Paul Maurice saying Sam Reinhart is back healthy and Matthew Tkachuk looks like he is rounding into form. The Oilers are missing Zach Hyman because of his playoff-ending wrist injury, and fellow top-line forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is dealing with something that is keeping him off the ice for practices and making him a game-time decision. That discrepancy could make a difference in their Cup final rematch. One thing that is the same is Florida locking in and normalizing pressure situations like this. 'Our approach, it's pretty similar the entire playoffs," said Bennett, who leads all scorers this postseason with 14 goals. "Whether it's Game 1 or Game 7, we play the same style. We play just as hard. We're not sitting back, so we really are not going to be changing anything in this next game or any other games to come.' ___
