HE’S A KEEPER
Kane proving to be a franchise cornerstone, not a problem child
SAN JOSE >> Evander Kane is fast, physical and just entering the prime of his career.
Pete DeBoer raves about him, he produces almost every night, and the Sharks see him as a cornerstone piece for years to come. With so much to like, it’s hard to understand why Kane, 27, will be suiting up for the Sharks at SAP Center tonight instead of the Buffalo Sabres? Why isn’t he a centerpiece in the team’s The easy narrative is that the Sabres unloaded Kane because he’s a problem child and they didn’t want him to soil their young core. During his threeyear stint in Buffalo, Kane faced accusations of sexual assault, a teammate called him selfish in front of reporters, and he got suspended for one game in 2016 for missing a practice after partying the night before.
But the real story isn’t that juicy. In fact, it’s pretty boring. The factors that led to Kane’s departure in Buffalo are the same variables at the center of almost every sports trade: money, winning and a general manager’s blueprint for the future.
“It was just making a decision on who you want to go with,” Kane said.
The Sabres acquired Kane in a seven-piece trade with the Winnipeg Jets in February 2015 after teammate Dustin Byfuglien reportedly threw his tracksuit in the tub for violating a team dress code. Controversy quickly followed Kane to Buffalo.
In December 2015, he faced accusations of sexual assault for an alleged incident in a hotel. About six months later, two female patrons in a bar accused him of harassment and disorderly conduct for reportedly grabbing them and pulling their hair just one night before Buffalo hosted the NHL Draft. The incident upset Sabres owners
Terry and Kim Pegula.
But the sexual assault accusation failed to produce charges after a district attorney determined that an examination of the facts, which included forensic and toxicological tests, produced no evidence of wrongdoing. Kane also got his harassment and disorderly conduct charges dismissed after he entered into a plea agreement.
Earlier that year, the Sabres suspended Kane for missing practice after he partied at the NBA AllStar Game in Toronto. Last year, Kane’s character got called into question again when teammate Justin Falk called him “selfish” during a fight at practice.
To those watching from a distance, these incidents only confirmed the bad boy reputation that Kane developed in Winnipeg. But teammates and reporters in Buffalo say the story is
mischaracterization.
“I’ve always had good experiences with Evander,” Sabres captain Jack Eichel said. “Since I came into the NHL, he was always nice to me. He took care of me, always brought me out to dinner with him, invited me to things. I can’t say anything bad about Evander because I go off of my relationship and experiences.
“He’s his own person, and maybe at times, he could be misunderstood.”
Take the practice fight, for instance. In the immediate aftermath of the incident, even Falk walked it back, calling it “spur of the moment” because “emotions are running high.”
At the time, the Sabres had the second-fewest points in the NHL, sitting 17 points out of a playoff spot midway through the season.
“We weren’t having a great year,” Eichel explained. “It’s easy to let your emotions get the best of you. It’s a battle. Sometimes that can happen. You’re battling with somebody and you get (ticked) off.
“It would happen with
anybody, but I think things get blown out (of proportion) when it happens with Evander.”
What fans and reporters outside Buffalo failed to grasp was the work that Kane put into building ties within the community. He showed sympathy for children, popping up at schools and hospitals and taking kids to games. He did a lot of this work in the shadows, hiding it from the local media.
“I didn’t care about the attention,” Kane said. “I just wanted to give back to the community. I really enjoyed my time in Buffalo. I never felt slighted.”
The knock against Kane is that he needs to play in cities with bright lights and big marquees, so teams, such as Buffalo and Winnipeg, never had a chance of keeping him.
Buffalo News columnist Mike Harrington disputes the truthfulness of this narrative.
“When he says he loves Buffalo, he isn’t blowing smoke. He honestly embraced
the city and tried to be part of it,” Harrington said. “The reputation that he’s been stuck with isn’t what I’ve experienced.”
The reality of Kane’s trade out of Buffalo is that he was a pending unrestricted free agent last year and due for a big payday. Keep in mind the Sabres are paying Eichel $10 million a year through 202526, Kyle Okposo $6 million a year through 202223
and, at the time, Ryan O’Reilly, who was traded to St. Louis in the offseason, was owed $7.5 million per year through 2022-23.
The Sabres will also owe big contracts to budding superstars, such as Sam Reinhart, Casey Mittelstadt and Rasmus Dahlin, in the future. Something needed to give and Kane was the odd man out. General manager Jason Botterill favored his guys and dumped Kane
and O’Reilly, who joined the team during the Tim Murray era. This is common in pro sports.
Head coach Phil Housley declined to comment on the trade Wednesday, suggesting that questions about Kane are better suited for Botterill.
Regardless, the trade is clearly working out for Kane and the Sharks.
Kane carried the Sharks into the playoffs last season, recording 14 points in 17 games. Then, he signed a seven-year, $49 million extension in the offseason. Now, he’s picking up where he left off, collecting five points in his first six games.
He won’t be holding any hard feelings toward the Sabres when he squares off against them at the Tank tonight. Right now, his focus is centered on his new team.
“The whole personality thing is more media based,” Kane said. “You look around the room (in San Jose), we have 23 different personalties, very different. It works.
“That’s the beauty of this team.”