San Jose Sharks
SOURCE: Mike Richards-Like Settlement Between Sharks & Kane Not Likely
TORONTO — It’s all good times on the road for the San Jose Sharks right now.
After sweeping through Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto, the 4-0-0 Sharks are off to their best start since 2015-16.
San Jose can’t stay on the road forever though: There’s a $28 million dollar problem waiting for them at home.
That would be Evander Kane, suspended for 21 games until Nov. 30 — and due four more years at $7 million dollar per.
So how will the San Jose Sharks solve a problem like Evander?
It won’t be by terminating or voiding Kane’s contract, according to Chris Johnston of the Toronto Star: “The Sharks don’t have the option to void or terminate what’s left of his contract, according to two well-placed sources, and any attempt to do so would almost certainly be met with an immediate challenge from the NHLPA.”
Months ago, San Jose Hockey Now suggested a Mike Richards-like settlement.
In June 2015, the Los Angeles Kings terminated Mike Richards’s contract and the NHLPA filed a grievance on the player’s behalf. Eventually, the Kings and Richards reached a settlement — Los Angeles ended up paying 60 percent of Richards’s remaining contract over the next 17 years, cap hit included.
With termination out of the picture, this could be an appealing option to the Sharks and Kane: San Jose could spread out the cap hit and Kane would still make a large chunk of money.
However, a highly-placed NHL source told San Jose Hockey Now that such a settlement is not in the cards — at this point.
The Kings and Richards were heading to independent arbitration before the settlement, and the NHL believed that the Kings had an argument for winning the case and voiding Richards’s contract in its entirety.
“In our view, the Kings had a ‘Bona Fide’ opportunity to win this grievance,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said then. “In that case, they would have no cap hit at all. This way, there’s some penalty.”
The case for voiding Evander Kane’s contract, apparently, isn’t as strong as LA’s case was against Richards.
Meanwhile, the 31 other NHL teams and the NHLPA aren’t likely to embrace a San Jose Sharks-Kane settlement.
“Privately, other teams are screaming bloody murder and are threatening to make an issue about [the Kings-Richards settlement],” Elliotte Friedman reported then. “The NHLPA did get, in writing, assurances the Richards grievance could not be used as precedent in any future cases.”
In short, for the San Jose Sharks, I wouldn’t rule a Richards-like settlement with Kane out — but it doesn’t sound likely.
So that’s one less mechanism for the Sharks to use to rid themselves, once and for all, of Kane.
What other recourse is left for the San Jose? We’ll dive into that further as Nov. 30 draws near.
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Waivers and AHL time until he proves he has actually learned a lesson.
If not buy him out next summer.
AHL saves them about $1.25M against cap (prorated to whatever it would be after the suspension).
so a guy gets caught crossing the border with some prescription drugs he doesn’t have a legit prescription for (probably given to him by a team trainer) and that’s a solid case to terminate; but a guy whose had controversy after controversy (unpaid gambling debts, coercing abortions from women he’s “dated”, allegedly roughing up women, falsifying Covid docs, etc.) doesn’t present a solid case of damage to the brand of the SJ Sharks enough to terminate/void his contract? if i had done just 1 of the things EK9 has done while a member of my LE agency, i’d have been… Read more »
My guess? I’ll have to look back. But my guess is Richards had something in his contract related to drugs. Whereas Kane has nothing in his contract that the Sharks can hone in on legally. I bet they would, if they could.
iirc i read something about he had a deal with the Sharks to stay away from the casinos and bookies (gambling) as well as counseling, which he violated. should be terminated for that alone.
You would’ve assumed that was in the contract — but for whatever reason, that apparently isn’t enough. No doubt at this point they’d rid themselves on the contract any way then can
and they complain about police unions having too much power…
Is there no chance of trading him at all?
Right now — no, I don’t think so. I do think if the Sharks buy him out and he’s a free agent, he’ll get a lot of interest. But I don’t think anybody wants to risk with that contract
agreed on that point. some team will pick him up for a mil for 1 season, which EK9 will use to scrub his immediate notoriety. he’ll prob never get a contract as lucrative as the 1 he got with the Sharks, but he’ll be back in the money soon enough and cashing checks from the Sharks for years to come at the same time.
Then would it make sense to trade him while retaining some of his salary? It would be like buying him out but getting an asset too.
It could make sense if you can find a partner — but again, three more guaranteed years, I don’t see a team willing on that, if they’re on the hook for a lot less
[…] Jose: Mike Richards-Like Settlement Between Sharks & Kane Not […]
i think you just play him… he either plays exceptionally to try and up his own value over next few years (so we can give hi away next offseason) OR he does something else crazy in which case we might get enough to terminate the contract
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[…] Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now: The San Jose Sharks don’t have the option to terminate Evander Kane’s contract. He has three more years after this season left on his deal at $7 million per. […]
[…] Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now: The San Jose Sharks don’t have the option to terminate Evander Kane’s contract. He has three more years after this season left on his deal at $7 million per. […]
[…] Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now: The San Jose Sharks don’t have the choice to terminate Evander Kane’s contract. He has three extra years after this season left on his deal at $7 million per. […]
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[…] issues with Evander Kane in San Jose continue, as Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now has reported that a Mike Richards-like settlement between the team and Kane is not […]
[…] issues with Evander Kane in San Jose continue, as Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now has reported that a Mike Richards-like settlement between the team and Kane is not […]
[…] to Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now, the San Jose Sharks might look into the option of reaching a settlement with Evander […]
[…] to Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now, the San Jose Sharks might look into the option of reaching a settlement with Evander Kane to […]
[…] Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now: The San Jose Sharks don’t have the choice to terminate Evander Kane’s contract. He has three extra years after this season left on his deal at $7 million per. […]