The addition of Evander Kane has been met with mixed feelings from Vancouver Canucks fans. The team’s newest member may come with controversy, but is a buy-low target for the club with top-six forward upside likely being used as a Brock Boeser replacement.
That being said, where is Kane best suited in the Canucks lineup heading into next season?
As of right now, the Canucks still have a little over $8.5-million in available cap space, so we can expect some others moves to come before we head into next year. For right now, though, Kane is either best suited to slot in alongside Elias Pettersson and Jake DeBrusk, or with Filip Chytil and Conor Garland.
Kane is a fast power forward who can score sometimes seemingly at will. He’s not someone who will be driving play on his own, and that’s why pairing him alongside Pettersson would be the best spot to set the Vancouver native up for success.
We’ve seen the numbers he’s managed to put up alongside the likes of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl over the past few years, especially in the playoffs just a few years ago, where he recorded 13 goals in 15 games. Although Pettersson is not on that level, he’s the closest forward the Canucks have to it. Assuming he’s ready for a bounce-back season, he could be a great playmaker to set up Kane around the net.
DeBrusk and Kane are both more north-south wingers that are hard on the forecheck, and with both being proven goal scorers, this could unlock the high-end level of playmaking from Pettersson that the Canucks sorely missed last season.
If Kane doesn’t end up working out on a line with Pettersson and DeBrusk, he could also be a good fit alongside Chytil and Garland, as both of these players are play-driving playmakers who can complement Kane’s goal-scoring ability.
Like DeBrusk, Garland is another player hard on pucks on the forecheck. With Kane’s ability to win board battles, the two of them could create a ton of offensive opportunities through the cycle below the circles in the offensive zone.
The Canucks are likely not only going to use Kane as a replacement for Boeser in the team’s top-six, but they’ll also need to replace him on the power play.
Kane doesn’t exactly fit into the flank slot on the power play that Boeser took over midway through last season after the departure of J.T. Miller. However, his size makes him a great candidate to take over the net front position on the Canucks’ top unit.
In his career, Kane has seen a fair bit of success on the power play, having registered a career high of 14 power play goals with the San Jose Sharks in the shortened 2019-20 season. With Edmonton, his numbers dipped on the man advantage, but he’ll surely have more opportunities in Vancouver to play on the top unit, something he didn’t do much of during his time with the Oilers.
Kane’s ability to slide up and down the lineup and slot in well with multiple players on this Canucks roster does make sense for an on ice fit. Mix this with the fact that he’s put up very solid offensive numbers throughout his career, he was likely one of the only proven top-six forward options on the market for the Canucks to buy at a very low cost.
That being said, is the on-ice fit worth some of the red flags this move could come with?
What do you think Canucks fans? Where do you see Kane slotting into the lineup? Let us know in the comments section below!
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