Sharks: San Jose signs Kane to 7-year, $49 million deal
“San Jose ticked off every box and made it a real easy decision for me and my family.”
It turns out a 70-day audition was all Evander Kane and the Sharks needed to make a sevenyear commitment to each other.
San Jose announced Thursday it has signed the 26-year-old forward to a $49 million deal that is expected to keep Kane in the South Bay through the 2024-25 NHL season.
It’s the third-most lucrative contract in club history in terms of total dollars, behind the eightyear deals signed by defensemen Brent Burns in 2016 ($64 million) and Marc-Edouard Vlasic in 2017 ($56 million). Like Kane, Burns’ deal runs through 2024-25. Vlasic’s ends after 2025-26.
“When you’re signing free agents — especially elite players who are going to play huge roles — you want to know as much about them as possible,” Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer said on a conference call Thursday. “You really don’t know until you stand behind the bench and are around them every day. That was a nice luxury to have, and we all felt comfortable this is a guy who could help us win.”
Acquired at the Feb. 26 trade deadline from Buffalo, Kane made an immediate positive impact with San Jose both on and off the ice. Behind Kane’s nine goals and 14 points, the Sharks went 11-5-1 to secure a 13th playoff berth in 14 seasons. Kane added four goals and five points in nine postseason games.
Evander Kane, Sharks forward
The Vancouver, British Columbia, native was suspended for Game 2 of the second-round series against Vegas, a game the Sharks won in overtime before eventually bowing in six games to the Golden Knights. Kane played with a separated
shoulder and strained MCL, both injuries that rest will heal.
“The way he came in and integrated quickly in the dressing room and with the staff, there’s no doubt in my mind he wants to be a great player,”
said Sharks general manager Doug Wilson, who — by re-signing Kane — surrenders a 2019 first-round pick to the Sabres. “His teammates welcomed him and he made himself welcome. Everything we hoped would happen did happen.”
Kane took time from a four-country European vacation to explain why he decided to forgo listening to other teams’ offers July 1.
“The Sharks made it real easy for me to not test the market,” he said on a conference call from Greece. “At the end of the season, on my list of priorities, San Jose ticked off every box and made it a real easy decision for me and my family.”
Selected fourth overall in 2009, the 6-foot-2, 212-pounder is the thirdleading goal scorer from his draft year. His 186 goals in 574 games played with Atlanta, Winnipeg, Buffalo and San Jose are topped only by New York Islanders free-agent center John Tavares (272 goals in 669 games) and center Matt Duchene, who has 201 goals in 654 games with Colorado and Ottawa.
“Now put him with our group of players, and how the game is being played, and absolutely his best hockey is ahead of him,” Wilson said of Kane, who has logged double-figure goal totals in each of his nine NHL seasons. His 29 this season fell one short of his career high.
“He’s a great player, we need him to help us to win the Stanley Cup and that’s the only ceiling we’re looking at,” DeBoer added.
Wilson said the team still has “ample cap space” and anticipates having money to spend on the open market after restricted free-agent forwards Tomas Hertl, Chris Tierney and defenseman Dylan DeMelo are re-signed.
Two-way center Logan Couture is also in line for a long-term extension before he reaches the final year of his contract next season.