In a cap-clearing move, the Edmonton Oilers parted ways with one of their most physical players in Evander Kane, shipping him to the Vancouver Canucks for a fourth-round pick. Edmonton needed to shed salary, and while on the ice Kane is worth his cap hit, he was also maybe the most moveable piece for the Oilers. The Canucks take advantage of some open cap space that they have sitting around because they aren't re-signing Brock Boeser, and they only pay a middle-round pick in order to replace some of the offence.

What the Canucks Get:

Now, it was just said that the Canucks are replacing some of Boeser's offence, and while Boeser out-pointed Kane by 50 points last season, that was because Kane didn't play at all. That means that all Kane has to do is put up a 50-point pace to fill the hole left by Boeser, and maybe even less than that because he's on a cheaper contract.

In Kane's most recent season, he scored at a 47-point pace, and in theory, he's now fully healthy with a full offseason to train. He's still 33 by the time opening day rolls around, and he brings a huge physical element that the Canucks will love as well.

Now, if Kane can find some of that previous form, he could be fantastic in fantasy leagues. The cherry on top would be if he was given all of the 18 minutes per game (three on the power play) that Boeser will be leaving empty, as hit peripherals would see a solid uptick with the additional volume, and the added ice time over his 2023-24 campaign with Edmonton would be only in productive power play time.

For a player with so many red flags attached to him, we do need to be wary, but there is also a lot to be cautiously optimistic about as well.

What the Oilers Get:

Not a lot really. They shed an extra roster player, but they don’t have a ton of internal competition. The biggest thing is shedding the extra cap. They now have about $17 million in space to re-sign Evan Bouchard, Trent Frederic (who is rumoured to be getting a $4 million AAV extension), and then fill out the last couple of roster spots.

Maybe this move clears some room for Matt Savoie, and allows the locker room to breathe a little easier without Kane there for a full season, but we didn't hear too many negative stories from his time in Edmonton anyways.

Players this helps (ordered most to least):

Matt Savoie

Trent Frederic

Players this hurts:

Jake DeBrusk

Nils Hoglander