Evander Kane looks set for a new chapter overseas.
According to his agent, Dan Milstein, the former Edmonton Oilers winger is close to signing with a KHL team and should have an announcement in the next few days. Milstein made the update on Wednesday’s edition of DFO Insider.
“We had a couple of things here in North America, but in the end, Evander decided to take his talents to Russia,” said Milstein. “We’re very close to signing a deal with the KHL team. So over the next couple of days or so, we will make an announcement, but he will be playing the season in Russia at the KHL level.”
Kane, 35, spent last season with the Vancouver Canucks after Edmonton traded him there on June 25, 2025, for a fourth-round pick in last year’s draft. Vancouver used that pick to select winger David Lewandowski, after the selection had previously been sent from Edmonton to Vancouver in the Vasily Podkolzin deal.
Back in his hometown, Kane played 71 games for the Canucks and finished with 13 goals and 31 points, along with a minus-20 rating, the second-worst of his career.
His run with Edmonton covered parts of four seasons from 2021 to 2025, and it was a productive stretch. Kane played 161 regular-season games for the Oilers, scoring 62 goals and 111 points, and added 26 goals and 42 points in 68 playoff games.
He joined Edmonton as a free agent in January 2022 after his contract with the San Jose Sharks was voided over AHL COVID-19 protocols. In 43 games that season, he produced 22 goals and 39 points down the stretch, then turned in an even bigger playoff performance with a league-leading 13 goals and 17 points in 15 games before the Oilers were swept by the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Final.
That summer, he signed a four-year extension carrying a $5.13-million cap hit.
Kane’s 2022-23 season was shortened to 41 games after a frightening wrist injury against the Tampa Bay Lightning. He still managed 16 goals and 28 points in the regular season, then added three goals and five points in 12 playoff games as Edmonton fell to the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round.
He was healthy again in 2023-24 and scored 24 goals and 44 points in 77 games, though his ice time dropped from 19:05 over his first two seasons to 16:47. His playoff production dipped to four goals and eight points, but he still led the Oilers with 37 penalty minutes during their run to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.
Kane missed the entire 2024-25 regular season after surgery, then returned for 21 playoff games and posted six goals and 12 points before the trade to Vancouver.
A free agent this season, Kane has not signed with an NHL club. Drafted fourth overall by the Atlanta Thrashers in 2009, he has played 1,001 NHL games with the Oilers, Canucks, Winnipeg Jets, San Jose Sharks and Buffalo Sabres, recording 339 goals and 648 points.
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