Kane believes Sharks have stuff to win Stanley Cup
East Vancouver product savoured playoff hockey for first time in his career, feels team’s commitment to winning NHL championship
In a four-minute conversation earlier this week, Evander Kane mentioned the Stanley Cup five times.
And, yes, there were people who thought he might end up going to unrestricted free agency and signing with the Vancouver Canucks.
Kane, the East Vancouver product and former Vancouver Giants star, took part in the Giants’ season-opening golf tournament at Tsawwassen Springs on Wednesday. He officially inked a seven-year contract extension, worth US$49 million, with the San Jose Sharks in late May, passing up a chance to go to the open market on July 1.
The Canucks have been linked to the left-winger in the past and the thinking was that they would have made him an offer if he was a free agent.
“The expectation, for us, isn’t just to be in the playoffs. The expectation, for us, is to win the Stanley Cup,” said Kane, 27. “It makes me even fresher mentally going into the season.
“It’s a good feeling knowing that we have a lot of the same guys back. In the short time I was there last year, I started to really believe in that group, and my belief has grown even stronger.
“That (winning the Cup) is the goal we have, that’s the requirement and the standard that’s been set by us as players and by our coaches, our general manager and our ownership. It’s great having everyone on the same page, knowing what the goal is and doing everything we can to accomplish it.”
The Sharks picked up Kane in a trade-deadline deal with the Buffalo Sabres last February, and Kane played playoff hockey for the first time since his final year with the Giants in 2008-09. He had jumped to the NHL at age 18, after the Atlanta Thrashers used the fourth-overall pick select him in the 2009 NHL Draft.
He had four goals and one assist in nine playoff games with the Sharks. He told reporters afterwards that he was playing through a separated shoulder and knee issues. He was saying Wednesday that he’s feeling fit.
“Playoffs in the NHL was everything I thought it would be. For me, it was long-overdue,” explained Kane, who had played 496 regular-season games without seeing the playoffs going into the year, through his time with the Thrashers, Winnipeg Jets and the Sabres.
“It (playoffs) is one of those things that I want to continue for the rest of my career. You want to be known as a good player, but you always want to be known as a playoff player. You want to raise your level. And you know what? I think we have a lot of guys who have done that and proven that over their careers now.”
Kane is tied with James van Riemsdyk ($7 million) for fourth-highest cap hit among NHL left-wingers this coming season, according to capfriendly.com. They slot in behind Alex Ovechkin ($9.53 million), Jamie Benn ($9.5 million) and Zach Parise ($7.53 million).
He’ll be the highest-paid San Jose forward this season, with Logan Couture’s extension, which jumps him from a $6-million cap hit to an $8-million one, kicking in next season.
It will be intriguing to see how Kane handles it all. He is coming off a 29-goal campaign last season. He scored 28 times for Buffalo in 2016-17.
“Some guys get paid and they relax. For me, it’s just part of the business. You have to go out and perform,” Kane said.
“At the end of the day, hockey is what people are going to remember you for. You want to be at your best-performance level as much as you can, whether it’s the last year of your deal or the first year of your deal.”