Evander Kane was acquired by the Canucks on Wednesday, but according to most, it was a baffling move from the organization and it's been called out as such.
The Edmonton Oilers have a crucial off-season ahead of them as they look to get back to the Stanley Cup Finals for a third straight season, and just a week after losing to the Florida Panthers, they've made their first big move.
A deal that came out of nowhere, the Oilers sent veteran forward Evander Kane to the Vancouver Canucks, retaining no salary and receiving a fourth-round pick in the deal, one that drew rave reviews for GM Stan Bowman.
On the other side however, there have been major questions raised about this move for Vancouver, and even with the team bringing in a Vancouver native, it's simply a deal that shouldn't have been made.
These issues have been raised by Daniel Wagner of Vancouver Is Awesome, who notes that Kane's troubles off the ice, his reported locker room behaviour and his injury history at 33-years of age are all reasons why this move was not a good one for the team.
All of the off-ice issues are enough to deal with, but Kane hasn't played a regular season game since 2023/24, with no more than 25 goals scored since back in 2019/20, and given that he's done so just twice in his career, he certainly isn't the answer in Vancouver.
After the team traded away J.T. Miller last year, Canucks fans believed that the drama was behind them, and while there's a chance that Kane could turn things around, there's just too much risk here, and in the end it's hard to argue with Wagner, who sees this as a very baffling trade.
