By Bob Marjanovich
It’s not the start Evander Kane wanted to his NHL season.
At least not on a personal level as the Vancouver Canucks prized off-season acquisition has yet to score for his new team, but the veteran forward is happy with the way the club has been battling through some early-season adversity enroute to a 5-6 record.
“Obviously, you never want to start off with a goal scoring slump and our team has gone through the injury bug pretty good here in the first 11 games but I think we’re starting to find our identity. I think we are improving and hopefully we’ll find our offensive game when it comes to five-on-five,” said Kane, who was acquired from Edmonton in the off-season in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft.
Part of the reason to the slow start for Kane has been getting used to the grind of the NHL season. Kane missed the entire 2024-25 regular season with a variety of ailments that included a series of abdominal and hip issues that required surgery last September with another procedure being done on his knee inJanuary of this year.
Kane did return for the Oilers’ post-season run to the Stanley Cup Finals and appeared in 21 games, scoring six times and adding six assists for 12 points while racking up 44 penalty minutes but he conceded the adrenaline from the post-season and playing every second night were factors that helped.
His production waned as the post-season progressed and fatigue set in.
With the NHL having a condensed schedule this season because of the Olympics, every team will be looking at some difficult stretches with the Canucks also being impacted simply by geography.
Playing five games in eight nights as the Canucks did during their Eastern road trip earlier this month is something that Kane has to get accustomed to again.
“The regular season is a lot different than the playoffs. We’ve had a tough schedule too. Five games on the road in eight days, come back home for three games in four days and then back on the road again. Ithink we are just trying to find some consistency,” he explained.
With injuries piling up for the Canucks, it is imperative that Kane start producing and the pressure and criticism is starting to build.
Kane has 326 NHL goals to his credit and has eclipsed the 20-goal plateau eight times in his NHL career.
The organization acquired him hoping that he could produce those numbers yet through 11 games, Kane has only managed four assists. To his Kane’s defense, he hasn’t been able to develop any chemistry with linemates as injuries have forced Canucks head coach Adam Foote to juggle his forward lines on almost a nightly basis.
Kane knows he has to be better and he is starting to see some positive signs in his game.
“I think my game is starting to build and I’m starting to find my legs…and it’s early,” said Kane, who has been noticeable in that he has drawn the most penalties of any Canuck with eight but has also taken seven himself which is second on the team.
The slow start has Kane drawing some criticism from Vancouver fans and media but then again Kane is accustomed to criticism not only for his play on the ice but for some of his actions off it with the latest being an impromptu photo session with Kash Patel – the Director of the FBI – after a recent game in Washington.
Kane, however, isn’t too concerned about what people say about him.
“Reputations and opinions…it’s kind of a blurred line especially when you’re talking about people that don’t even actually know you or people that you don’t even know,” explained Kane.
“I think I am very comfortable with who I am and very comfortable with the people that know me, my character and know the type of husband, father, son and friend I am.”
OVERTIME:
* This agent has followed this team since it’s inception and covered them since 1994 and I honestly can’t recall a run of injuries that the Canucks are dealing with now. The Canucks embark on a three-game road trip with tilts in St. Louis, Minnesota and Nashville without the services of Quinn Hughes, Filip Chytil, Conor Garland, Jonathan Lekkerimaki, Nils Hoglander, Teddy Blueger, Derek Forbort and Victor Mancini. This is testing the depth of a team that had concerns about depth heading into the season.
* There has been plenty of debate early in the season about the deployment of Elias Pettersson. Foote has been matching up Pettersson with the opposition’s top line and the Swede has done a solid job defensively registering a +2 but it comes at the cost of offense with Pettersson managing eight points in 11 games. Those aren’t bad numbers but more is expected when you are the highest paid player on the team.
* Only Calgary (24), Nashville (28) and Seattle (28) have scored less goals in the Western Conference than Vancouver (29). Besides Kane, other Canuck forwards still looking for their first goal this season include Drew O’Connor (11 GP), Arshdeep Bains (11 GP), Aatu Raty (9 GP) and Linus Karlsson (8 GP).
Veteran B.C. sports personality Bob “the Moj” Marjanovich writes about the B.C. sporting scene for Black Press Media. This column is brought to you by:
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