Edmonton Oilers power forward Evander Kane is near the top of every major National Hockey League trade bait board. But why?

Kane, 33, has one year remaining on a contract with a $5.1 million cap hit. He missed the NHL’s regular season due to multiple injuries and multiple surgeries, but came back and played strong two-way hockey for the Oilers in the playoffs, also giving the Oilers an intimidating physical presence.

At the same time, perhaps Edmonton’s biggest problem against Florida was the team’s inability to get in fast and hard on the forecheck against Florida’s defenders.

Edmonton moved on from fast players Dylan Holloway, Warren Foegele and Ryan McLeod in the summer of 2024, while top forechecker Zach Hyman was out with injury the Stanley Cup Final while hustling Connor Brown was never the same forechecker after taking a brutal head shot against Dallas in the Conference Final.

But, apparently, the Oilers are looking to move out Kane.

Kane is the third player listed on The Fourth Period’s 2025 Summer Trade Watch list.

The Fourth Period reports: “The Oilers will be looking to move Kane this off-season and his $5.125 million cap hit… Reports ahead of the trade deadline suggested he refused to waive his NTC for a team that wasn’t on his trade list — could those talks get revisited now that the season’s over?”

He’s sixth on insider Frank Seravalli’s list at The Daily Faceoff: “The Oilers are also looking for ways to free up salary cap space. No matter what is said about Kane, one thing is undeniable: he is a damn good hockey player.”

Kane is 15th on Nick Kyreos’s trade board at Sportsnet: “The Edmonton Oilers have just less than $12 million in cap space available, but a huge chunk of that is expected to be taken up by Evan Bouchard when the RFA signs an extension. So they’ll need to create some room with movement elsewhere on the roster, leaving Evander Kane as a trade candidate to allow GM Stan Bowman to have more wiggle room.”

Insider Chris Johnston of The Athletic has Kane listed at #4 overall: “With the Oilers in need of more roster flexibility, Kane is a prime candidate to be moved… He remains a big physical presence who can put the puck in the net and intimidate opponents. Kane has a list of 16 approved teams to which he can be traded.”

My take

1. The notion of moving out Kane makes little sense to me given that Oilers GM Stan Bowman said he’s taking a hard look at Edmonton’s forwards with an idea of making changes, presumably due to the group’s lack of speed and physical play in the Stanley Cup Final.

Interim GM Jeff Jackson blew it last summer by moving out speed in favour of veteran skill in the way of Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson on the wing. I liked what both Skinner and Arvidsson had to bring in the playoffs, but I can’t help but think that Foegele, Holloway and McLeod would have made a major difference against Florida, not to mention a healthy Hyman and Brown.

2. In the last two NHL playoffs, when it comes to forwards who have played more than 10 games, Kane ranks 28th overall in 5-on-5 goal scoring and 32nd overall in hits (out of the 177 qualifying forwards).

The top ranked forward if you go by goals, assists and hits (a rough proxy for success as a power forward), was Vasily Podkolzin of the Oilers, with Toronto’s Max Pacioretty, Vancouver’s Dakota Joshua, Florida’s Sam Bennett and Washington’s Anthony Beauvillier rounding out the Top 5.

Edmonton’s Zach Hyman ranks sixth, Kane is 15th, former Oilers Dylan Holloway is 26th, Oilers Kasperi Kapanen is 28th, Adam Henrique, 31st, Connor McDavid, 39th, and Trent Frederic, 47th.

3. The Oilers have already lost Holloway from this list, with Kapanen a free agent this summer. Losing Kane would mean losing the a player who fits the description of exactly what the Oilers are lacking for Stanley Cup Final success.

Let me repeat that for emphasis: Kane fits the description of exactly what the Oilers are lacking for Stanley Cup Final success.

The only area where Kane does not fit the description is when it comes to salary cap, but I’ll argue he’s more than earned his $5.1 million per since signing his new contract.

4. Bottom line: the only way trade I can see that makes sense when it comes to trading Kane is to trade him for a player that fits an even bigger need, such as a top goalie who makes $5 million per season or less.