BREAKING: Kane to Play for Barracuda Tomorrow

There’s been a lot of back and forth, but it appears that Evander Kane will make his AHL debut tomorrow.

That’s according to the Mercury News:

Just got confirmation that Evander Kane will be playing tomorrow for the Barracuda against Abbotsford. Puck drop at 1:15 p.m.

— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) December 10, 2021

That’s in line with what I reported on NBC Sports Bay Area last week:

.@Sheng_Peng details when Evander Kane will make his AHL debut, and the possibility of the Sharks trading the forward away pic.twitter.com/DDCAcFeFQ6

— Sharks on NBCS (@NBCSSharks) December 4, 2021

It wasn’t a smooth road here though — and per San Jose Hockey Now’s sources, it’s Evander Kane’s decision to play — so that could change tomorrow, if he’s not feeling right. For what it’s worth, the San Jose Sharks star hasn’t played in a professional hockey game in seven months.

Kane missed two Barracuda practices on Wednesday and Thursday with what I was told was food poisoning.

I've heard that Kane had some food poisoning this week, which is why he's missed a couple Barracuda practices and is a contributing factor for not playing this weekend, as originally planned

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 9, 2021

The Mercury News also reported yesterday that Kane was unlikely to play this weekend.

“The last thing we want or he wants to do is go in too early. We’re not in a hurry,” acting San Jose Sharks Joe Will said. “We’ll just get him in when he’s had some good practices and when he’s feeling ready.”

This morning, however, Kane participated in Barracuda practice and SJHN learned that his status for Saturday had been elevated to “game time.”

I'm hearing Kane will be a game-time decision for the Barracuda tomorrow

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 10, 2021

That upward trend with Kane’s playing status appears to be continuing, but we’ll see if he actually suits up tomorrow.

If he does, it will be Kane’s first-ever AHL game. The 30-year-old forward went straight from juniors to the NHL as an 18-year-old in October 2009.

The San Jose Barracuda take on the Abbotsford Canucks at SAP Center at 1:15 PM on Saturday. It’s a double dose of home hockey: That night, the San Jose Sharks face Joe Pavelski and the Dallas Stars at 7:30 PM at SAP Center.