Edmonton Oilers looking at unique ideas to re-sign Evander Kane
The Edmonton Oilers are currently in the middle of a heated second roundm Battle of Alberta matchup, in which they lead the Calgary Flames 3 games to 1. That doesn't seem to stop the rumour mill about what they would choose to do with their unrestricted free agents though. There's one in particular to keep an eye on, Evander Kane.
As reported by TSN's Darren Dreger on Overdrive, Oilers General Manager Ken Holland wants to lock the forward up to a 3-year deal if it means driving down the contracts average-annual-value:
Dreger on OverDrive says he can see Holland giving a bit more term to Kane than others may, the sweet spot would be a 3-yr term but DD can see Holland going longer to bring down the AAV, plus Dreger adds Holland may be retired in 5-yrs playing on a golf course, what does he care?
Kane, 30, played in 43 games with the Oilers this season collecting 22 goals and 17 assists for 39 points. He's also scored at above a point per game pace in the playoffs, so it would make sense, if the Oilers want to keep him that he try to finesse Ken Holland.
The Oilers are also looking at ways to potentially structure a contract that would protect the team in case of any off ice issues, like the ones that have plagued Kane in the past. These clauses could be unique to Kane's contract.
Holland is notorious for giving out bad contracts. Longer term over-payments galore have followed him around his entire career, and as pointed out above, it's likely he'll retire within the next 5 years, so why would he care about his bad contracts by then?
POLL |
Should the Oilers sign Kane? |
Yes, at all costs | 83 | 24.1 % |
Yes, but only with protection for the team | 128 | 37.1 % |
Yes, only short term | 103 | 29.9 % |
No, not at all | 31 | 9 % |
List of polls |
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