Evander Kane’s tumultuous career with the San Jose Sharks is over. The Sharks placed Kane on unconditional exemptions Saturday with the intention of ending the remainder of his seven-year, $ 49 million contract.
San Jose said it made the decision because Kane violated the NHL’s standard player contract and the AHL’s COVID-19 protocols. Kane joined the Sharks’ AHL team, the Barracuda, in late November after serving a 21-game suspension for submitting a false vaccination card to the NHL.
Kane, 30, played just five games with the Barracuda before entering COVID-19 protocols on December 22.
San Jose’s decision to resign Kane comes after months of controversy surrounding the once highly hyped forward. In July, Anna Kane, Evander Kane’s estranged wife, accused her husband of gambling NHL games and “throwing (his) games with bookmakers to make money” in an Instagram post. The NHL investigated Anna Kane’s allegations but found no evidence to support them.
The NHL game was not the only wrongful act that Anna Kane accused her husband of. She also claimed that Evander Kane physically and sexually abused her during their marriage, prompting her to file a restraining order against him in a Santa Clara court last September.
Evander Kane, however, claimed that Anna Kane was violent towards him prior to his performance and was granted a temporary restraining order of her own. The timing of Anna Kane’s presentation prompted Evander Kane’s attorneys to describe the move as “retaliation.”
The NHL announced that it could not verify Anna Kane’s domestic abuse allegations on October 18.
Kane will finish his career with the Sharks with 212 games played and 166 points (87 goals, 79 assists). He joined the team in 2017-18 after spending his first nine NHL seasons with the Winnipeg Jets and Buffalo Sabers.
With San Jose terminating the remainder of his contract, Kane will lose approximately $ 22.9 million from his original seven-year, $ 49 million contract. It’s not an ideal time for Kane to lose that income, as he reportedly filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in California last January after incurring $ 26.8 million in debt.
According to Daniel Kaplan of The Athletic, Kane lost $ 1.5 million in gambling the month of his bankruptcy filing. Days before Kane filed for bankruptcy, Centennial Bank sued Kane for $ 8.3 million in federal court in Florida for gambling debts.