This article will be another in my series of player profiles, where I’ll look at each player on the San Jose Sharks and assess how their season went. This article will focus on Evander Kane.
As I said in a previous article, Evander Kane has stepped up his game since joining the Sharks in 2018. This year, Kane had 26 goals and 47 points in 64 games, a pace of 33 goals and 60 points per 82 games, which had him leading the team in goals and second in points by year’s end. He had a large role this season, averaging more time on ice per game than any other forward on the team, including 2:43 per game on the power play and 1:22 per game on the penalty kill.
In terms of underlying stats, Kane’s were only okay this season. He had a corsi for percentage of 50.7 per cent, which was identical to San Jose’s overall corsi for percentage and Kane’s expected goals for percentage of 48.6 per cent was also a bit weak.
One issue that remains for Kane is his discipline. He led the league in penalty minutes this season and finished second in the league in minor penalties. Based on his production, however, at least he’s making up for the penalties that he takes.
He still has five years remaining on his contract, which carries an AAV of $7 million and considering Kane is still just 28 years old, the deal is likely to continue bringing great value for the Sharks for at least a few more years. He’s one of the team’s best forwards and will be counted on to be a key part of San Jose’s offense once again next season.
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Here’s today’s poll question (results and discussion will be posted in a future article):
How many points do you expect from Evander Kane next season?