Ex-Canucks prez brings up Evander Kane's locker room problems from the past in honest review of latest trade acquisition

The Edmonton Oilers traded forward Evander Kane to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2025 NHL draft on Wednesday.

The Canucks took on Kane's full $5.125 million cap hit for the final year of his four-year, $20.5 million contract, with so salary retianed by Edmonton. Kane, a Vancouver native, announced the trade himself on X (formerly Twitter).

Former Canucks president Trevor Linden believes the acquisition of Evander Kane positions the club to contend for the Pacific Division title again.

He acknowledged concerns about the winger's past off-ice issues and their potential impact on the locker room, but emphasized that Kane brings a unique style of hockey that can benefit the team.

"He's a guy that can bring a certain type of hockey to that locker room. I'm sure Edmonton wanted to move salary out. Edmonton was able to take salary on, and it made sense. Obviously, for Edmonton to trade him to a divisional rival is interesting,"Linden said.

"I think they are in a win-now type of mode. I don't think they were too far off. You look at where they were last year and the year before—it seems like it is a big difference. But at the same time, you get Demko having a good season, and Pettersson back on his game, and their defense is in order right now. So adding a player like this, maybe that puts them in a position to compete for the Pacific Division again, which is very possible," he added.

Canucks GM shares his thoughts on Evander Kane's trade from Oilers

Vancouver Canucks GM Patrik Allvin shared his thoughts on Evander Kane's acquisition, noting that his availability at a low trade cost presented an opportunity to strengthen their top-nine or middle-six forward group.

"When a player like this comes available to the cost, we felt we have a chance to upgrade our top-nine, mid-six, and become a harder team to play against,” Vancouver general manager Patrik Allvin said via NHL. “Obviously, Evander, the way his contract was structured, he had a preferred 15 teams to go to, and Vancouver was his preferred destination.”

Kane was drafted No. 4 overall by the now-defunct Atlanta Thrashers in the 2009 NHL draft. He was with the Oilers for the last three seasons. Now with the Canucks, Kane could help the club in filling the void left by Brock Boeser.