A goodbye from Evander Kane? I’m starting to get that sense

Edmonton Oilers forward Evander Kane celebrates a goal against the Calgary Flames in Game 4 Tuesday night. Photo by Codie McLachlan /Getty Images

Taking to social media today, Evander Kane offered a heartfelt and heartfelt thank you to Edmonton and Oilers fans in a post that also felt a bit like a farewell.

Said Kane: “Thank you to all the fans who have supported me this year. Thank you to everyone who doubted me. To my Oilers teammates, I appreciate each and every one of you for welcoming me and hugging me in such a genuine way. I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to play with such a dedicated, hardworking and loyal group of men. The Edmonton Oilers are a top notch organization with such a great staff from top to bottom and I thank them for giving me the opportunity to play for such a historic franchise. To the Edmonton fans, thank you for treating my family and I with so much kindness and respect. Thanks, 91.”

My recording

1. Is Evander Kane Returning To The Oilers? Who knows? What we do know is that the Edmonton Oilers are being held tight against the salary cap, that Kane himself has had all sorts of financial woes — from getting out of contract in San Jose to personal bankruptcy — so he seems poised to go somewhere It is well advised that he accepts the best and highest offer in private hands. There must be tremendous appeal for him to be coming back to Edmonton, to have fans and teammates who have embraced him, and to play with top talent like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, but Kane must also look after his financial well-being and family . It’s doubtful Edmonton can make the top bid for Kane should he become an unrestricted free agent.

2. It is also true that Edmonton Oilers GM Ken Holland has previously stated that he is unable to keep this current Edmonton Oilers team together due to salary constraints. “I can’t keep this team together. There’s no chance the team we just had, I can’t keep this team together because of the salary cap. Some people might think, “That’s good, get rid of some of these people.” But it’s the cap world. I will try to make the team as good as possible. I know we have a really good core.”

3. As for bringing Kane back, Holland said, “Am I interested in bringing him back? Yes, I think he was a huge influence on our team.” Kane plays with an edge and had wonderful chemistry with Connor McDavid, Holland said, adding that he didn’t know if Kane wanted to stay but meet up with him would, a meeting that would have taken place by now.

4. Why do I feel like this was part of the farewell note? I can’t read Kane’s mind, so it’s just a gut feeling, just the general mood from the note, with some of it written in the past tense, for example, “I’m grateful to have had the opportunity.” Maybe I’m interpreting too A lot into it, but it conveyed the feel of someone grateful for an opportunity and wanting to make sure Edmonton residents know this but are ready to explore what’s next. Does this make sense?

5. If Kane moves on, that’s fair. He lived in Edmonton until the end of the deal, and then some. All he’s done is play his heart out for the team and provide the Oilers with the kind of skillful and hard-hitting power-forward play that the franchise needed forever. He brought some much-needed pride back to this team. If Kane carries on, so be it, and good luck to him wherever he goes.

6. How good was Kane in the playoffs? He leads the NHL in the postseason with 13 goals in his 15 games. He was the third-highest player on the Cult of Hockey player ratings, behind Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman, with Bruce McCurdy summarizing those numbers and the Oilers in the playoffs in this post. In terms of two-way performance, McDavid was the top Oilers forward by far, +2.7 Grade A shots per game at even strength, followed by Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman and Kane, all at +1.7 Grade A shots per game, notable numbers all around. As I said, Kane more than fulfilled his end of the bargain.