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Why the Canucks trading Evander Kane back to the Oilers just won’t work
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Photo credit: © Perry Nelson-Imagn Images
Jacob Fraser
Jan 10, 2026, 15:36 ESTUpdated: Jan 10, 2026, 16:35 EST
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Brought in this past offseason as a quick-fix option for the Vancouver Canucks‘ top-six forward group, Evander Kane hasn’t really worked out in his hometown. According to Donnie & Dhali’s Rick Dhaliwal, the Canucks have called around the league to find him a new home. Dhaliwal said someone even told him that the Canucks even called the team they acquired him from, the Edmonton Oilers, about sending him back.
At first glance, this doesn’t seem like a bad idea on both sides. The Canucks move out Evander Kane, who has struggled to produce for the team this season and doesn’t add much to their lineup overall right now. While the Oilers bring in a player they are familiar with, and can likely add some juice to their middle-six forward group, which has struggled to produce this season. 
It’s not a terrible move for either side; that said, the Canucks would probably like to get back the fourth-round pick that they paid in the offseason, and the Oilers may look at this as a real bargain buy, but that’s not where the real problem lies. 
The biggest issue with a potential trade is the salary cap. You might think the Canucks can retain 50% of Kane’s contract and take back Andrew Mangiapane’s or something to that effect to make the money make a bit more sense.
However, the Oilers can’t bring back Kane’s contract with salary retention, as they traded him this offseason; they can’t bring him back with retention until 12 months after the original trade. 
Edmonton currently has a little over $3.7 million in cap space with both Jake Walman and Tristan Jarry on long-term injured reserve. Kane’s current cap hit is $5.125 million. Based on these cap situations, a deal in which the Canucks bring back Mangiapane is possible, but once Walman and Jarry return to the Oilers lineup, they’ll be well over the cap. 
This means Vancouver would likely need to bring in Mangiapane as well as an additional player with a similar salary to make this work. The only players that could really make that work on the Oilers’ books are Trent Frederic and Adam Henrique. 
Henrique could make this possible, but would the Oilers really want to move a winger along with some of their depth down the middle for Evander Kane? It certainly doesn’t make sense for the Canucks, who would likely have to pay on top of Kane just to get that deal done. 
The Oilers probably wouldn’t want to do that either, as at best it’s a lateral move for them that doesn’t clear up enough cap space to fill the hole of missing Henrique closer to the trade deadline. 
As for Frederic, the Oilers likely would be willing to move him. He’s struggled mightily with just three points in 42 games this season. He signed an eight-year, $3.85-million extension that carries a full no-movement clause. That contract alone would be a big mistake for the Canucks to take on, despite their current rebuild or ‘hybrid re-tool’ phase they’re currently in. 
What it really comes down to is that this trade just simply becomes too complicated. For a deal to get done between the two teams, there would be a lot of moving pieces for guys that, realistically, are middle-six forwards at best. 
We’ve seen the Canucks make this mistake in the past, moving promising assets to try to get expiring deals off the books sooner rather than later. With this season being a write-off at this point, there shouldn’t be any real urgency for the team to move Evander Kane unless they’re able to actually acquire a future asset. 
Trading Kane back to Edmonton just doesn’t make it seem feasible for Vancouver to take back the necessary salary, while also getting a pick in the future. There is certainly an argument that Evander Kane’s best fit could be a move back to Edmonton, but given the contract situations, it simply won’t work. 
All of this being said, if Kane were to be traded by the Canucks, it won’t be to Edmonton. It’s not going to be an easy task to find another trade partner. At this point, the Canucks need to get creative if they hope to find the Vancouver native a new home for the rest of the season.
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