Evander Kane cannot be bought out by the Sharks, according to a respected NHL Insider

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Mike Armenti
October 20, 2021 (2:16 PM)

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In the wake of San Jose Sharks forward Evander Kane's 21-game suspension for violating the NHL's COVID-19 protocols by using a fake vaccination card, there seems to be a lot of speculation over what the next steps here are from the Sharks' perspective.

Some have suggested that the Sharks may be looking to move on from Kane after his laundry list of issues and may pursue a trade opportunity or look into the possibility of terminating the remainder of his contract.

On Tuesday's edition of TSN's Insider Trading, Chris Johnston pointed out that terminating Kane's deal simply isn't an option in San Jose, according to multiple league sources.

Per those same league sources, the league-issued 21-game suspension would serve as Kane's official punishment and that any attempt to terminate his deal at this point would be a CBA violation.

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Johnston also suggested that the Sharks may entertain the idea of waiving Kane for the purpose of assigning him to the AHL's San Jose Barracuda to keep him out of the Sharks' locker room and remove any further distractions.

There is plenty of time between now and the end of Kane's suspension for the team to discuss the best option for what to do with the problematic winger moving forward.