After suspension, Evander Kane looks ahead: “I served my time … and now I’m back”

SAN JOSE – Evander Kane is eager to turn the page on a year that included multiple investigations into his behavior by the NHL, frayed relationships with Sharks teammates, strife in his personal life, and a 21-game suspension for a violation of the league’s COVID protocol.

Back on the ice in a team setting for the first time in close to six months, Kane on Tuesday took part in his initial practice with the Barracuda at Solar4America Ice. The forward was placed on waivers by the Sharks on Sunday and cleared the next day, allowing the organization to assign him to its AHL affiliate.

It was Kane’s first step in what he hopes will be a return to the NHL after he was suspended by the league for a quarter of the season on Oct. 18 for submitting a fake vaccine card. The suspension ended after the Sharks’ game with the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday.

Kane said he’ll be able to separate his personal problems from his profession.

“I came in today, the same person, the same teammate, the same player that I was and everything went great,” Kane said in his first comments to local media since May. “I think there’s been a lot of misinformation that’s been said, but I can only control how I work and what I do here, and that’s what I’m doing.”

Kane did not wish to elaborate on why he violated the league’s COVID protocol, referring to the statement he made after the suspension was announced in which he admitted to making “a mistake, one I sincerely regret and take responsibility for.”

Kane said he is now fully vaccinated.

“I served my time, did my 21 games, and now I’m back,” he said.

Kane admitted last season with the Sharks was far from ideal as the team missed the playoffs for a second straight year. But he disputed a report that indicated he had a bad attitude and flouted team rules, and that a large number of Sharks players no longer wanted him around.

Kane, who led the team last season with 49 points in 56 games, said he’s been skating on his own at the team’s practice facility for the last three weeks away from the other Sharks’ players.

“It’s funny. I had my exit meeting last year and everything was positive, positive, positive, and how great I was with the young guys and how great of a season I had,” Kane said.

“Apparently something happened in the summer that I wasn’t aware of. So, it was all news to me.”

Kane this summer faced several allegations made by his estranged wife, Anna. In social media posts, she wrote that Evander gambled on and tried to throw Sharks games and in filing for a temporary restraining order, said he physically and sexually assaulted her during their marriage.

The NHL investigated the gambling and abuse allegations but could not find any evidence to substantiate Anna Kane’s claims. No charges have been filed in relation to the assault allegations, and San Jose police have not said if they are investigating. The former couple has a one-year-old daughter together.

“Obviously I understood the seriousness of those allegations right away,” Kane said. “But I genuinely was not worried one bit about it because they were obviously false. There were certain motives behind that that didn’t make sense at the time. But it wasn’t something I lost any sleep over.”

Although Kane will likely not play another game with the Sharks, he feels he and his agent, Dan Milstein, have “a good plan in place” to get moved to another team.

Kane’s seven-year contract, which carries an average annual value of $7 million, lasts until the end of the 2024-25 season, and the Sharks will likely have to retain up to half of that salary – at least to start off with — to expedite a trade. There is also a chance a third team could get involved to help reduce the cap hit for the team that would acquire Kane.

Kane has a modified trade clause in his contract in which he submits a list of three teams to which he would agree to be traded. Kane wouldn’t say if he would agree to expand that list.

“It’s in there for a reason, and that’s my right,” Kane said. “I’ll let my agent handle that part. It’s definitely nice to have that in my contract.”

Shortly before the start of the Barracuda’s practice at 10:15 a.m., Kane stepped onto the ice with coach Roy Sommer, passing by a handful of photographers and videographers on the way. He was in an unfamiliar-looking yellow jersey, instead of the white or teal practice jerseys he wore with the Sharks.

Kane skated on a forward line with Kyle Topping and Steenn Pasichnuk, two players on AHL contracts.

Kane, at 30 years old and a veteran of 769 NHL games, is the oldest player on the Barracuda roster. The second-oldest player is defensemen Jaycob Megna at 28, but the majority of the players on the team are between 20 and 23 and on entry-level contracts, still trying to solidify themselves in the Sharks’ organization.

“The bottom line is he wants to get back to the NHL,” Sommer said. “This is the first time he’s ever been in the minors, so it’s probably kind of a shock to him. But I think he knows if he does things the right way that he’ll get back there.”

Kane said he will not be playing in the Barracuda’s games this weekend in Abbotsford, B.C. The team’s next game is Dec. 7 in Stockton, followed by games at SAP Center against Abbotsford on Dec. 11 and 12.

“I’m under contract with the Sharks,” Kane said. “They’ve sent me here. I have shown up and will continue to show up and I look forward to whatever it is to come.”