Category: Edmonton Oilers

Evander Kane, the star player of the Edmonton Oilers, has had his own share of controversies throughout his personal and professional life. One of the biggest controversies in his life is related to his ex wife Anna Kane, who he divorced in July 2021 and then had to get a restraining order against. Last year, Evander Kane’s ex wife, Anna Kane decided to attend a game where the Edmonton Oilers played against the Red Wings despite having a restraining order. This led to utter chaos at the end.

When Evander Kane’s ex wife Anna Kane decided to attend the match between Edmonton Oilers and Red Wings, she did not expect to be removed from the game, but that’s what exactly happened, as per OutKick.

Later, Evander Kane’s ex wife, Anna Kane took to her Instagram to share a picture of her being escorted out of the venue with security officials. Anna Kane added a caption that read as, “Need 15 security to walk me out cuz your d**k is so little.” She was there to support the Red Wings and also added, “Sorry @detroitwings I got kicked out cuz my ex was crying.”

This was not the first time that Evander Kane and his ex wife, Anna Kane had a public spat. In 2021 Anna Kane shared a statement on her Instagram account where she revealed that Evander Kane had financially and emotionally neglected her and their daughter.

Evander Kane’s ex wife, Anna Kane also accused her ex husband of a gambling addiction and betting on his own games in the NHL. This became a serious accusation and he was reportedly investigated by the NHL who ultimately did not find any such evidence against him.

A few months later, Evander Kane’s ex wife, Anna Kane accused him of domestic violence and sexual assault. The star player has denied all such allegations levied against him and got a restraining order against Anna Kane after he accused her of hitting him.

Evander Kane has since moved on and is engaged to another woman currently. In December 2024, his ex wife, Anna Kane claimed she was one of the victims of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sexual assault. It is not known if the two are in contact with each other.

Also Read: Edmonton Oilers’ Evander Kane had to file for bankruptcy after earning close to $55 million in NHL career as he faced $26 million in debts

Matthew Savoie had his bag packed a long time ago, so he’d be ready if the phone rang.

Well, it rang.

The Edmonton Oilers are giving the kid from St. Albert his shot.

The club flew the 21-year-old up from Bakersfield to skate with them at practice this week and the plan is to get him into the lineup on their upcoming eastern road trip.

“As the season’s gone on he’s progressing and playing really well and we wanted to look and see how he fits into our lineup,” said head coach Kris Knoblauch. “Whether there’s a fit with somebody or maybe he’s just not quite ready, whatever it is.

“I think he’s earned it, I think he’s been playing very well in Bakersfield. We’ll just see if he plays well and we’ll make a decision after that.”

Savoie has been playing extremely well in Bakersfield, arguably their best forward on most nights. In his first full season as a pro he has 37 points (13 goals and 24 assists) in 45 games and he’s just back from the AHL All-Star game where he won the fastest skater competition in a time that would have cracked top five in the NHL.

There is something there and the Oilers want to take a closer look.

“At some point during the road trip he will play, but how many games and what games, that will be determined,” said Knoblauch. “It’s been earned. If he wasn’t one of the better players every single night we wouldn’t be calling him up here.”

Savoie came to Edmonton from Buffalo last summer in the trade for Ryan McLeod, so Oilers management is hoping a deal that they are losing early will turn the other way if the ninth overall pick in 2022 reaches his NHL potential.

Time will tell, but the early returns will be arriving shortly.

“The reports we’ve had for quite a while are that he’s been playing well and getting better every time in many areas of the game,” said Knoblauch. “We’re looking forward to seeing him play.”

“So pure joy for me and pure excitement.”

Savoie isn’t big (five-foot-nine, 179 pounds at the start of training camp), but he knows his way around the ice and he can skate at an NHL level. That’s a good start.

“He looked great, I thought,” said Draisaitl. “He moves really well, you can tell he’s got a lot of hockey sense, so hopefully we’ll get a couple games together and see what we have in him.

“He’s been playing really well down there from what I’ve heard. Excited to see him.”

It’s a testament to his progress that he’s getting a look this early in his pro career. As Knoblauch said, this isn’t a gift, it’s been earned.

“I’m just trying to make that big jump to the pro level, pick out the differences from junior, and try to really work on those areas,” he said. “I think it’s been a pretty seamless transition and I’m just looking to continue getting better every day.

“It’s really exciting to see where I could potentially play and where I could be. It makes me want to continue to push myself as hard as I can to get to that next level and be a contributor here.”

Skating with Draisaitl isn’t something a lot of 21-year-old rookies get to do, so the significance of that isn’t lost on Savoie.

“It was really fun. I got a little bit of a taste of it in camp, an idea of what it’s like to play with a player of that skill level. Every time you’re out there it’s a step up. The plays he makes, the way he makes them, it’s just so effortless. He knows where to put the puck. It’s really fun to play with a guy like that who can distribute and finish the way he does.”

It also helps that he’s getting clear directions on what the Oilers are looking for; Savoie and Knoblauch had a nice discussion already on what the blueprint should look like.

“It was more seeing how the year has been going, how I’m feeling coming in, answering any questions that I have,” said Savoie. “He’s really good about being open and direct and wants to make sure you have a clear, direct plan when you’re out there. It was a good conversation and just makes me feel more comfortable here.”

will miss three home games: one against the Washington Capitals on Tuesday, one against the Canucks on Thursday, and one against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday. As part of the suspension, McDavid will forfeit $195,312.51 in salary, which will be donated to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

“It’s a game, you know. It’s a passion, obviously. I don’t think he meant to do that,” said Capitals star Alex Ovechkin when asked about McDavid missing the game. “But sucks for him, good for us. He’s not playing tonight, we’ll take it.”

The suspension came after an incident in Saturday night’s game when McDavid and Garland fell to the ice with less than a minute left in regulation.

As McDavid tried to get back up, Garland grabbed his arm, which led McDavid to punch him with his glove to free himself. When McDavid tried to get back in the play, Garland wrapped his arms around him and took him down a second time. As they got up again, McDavid delivered a hard cross-check to Garland’s head.

The NHL’s Department of Player Safety explained that this was not a typical move by McDavid to gain body position. Instead, McDavid was retaliating aggressively, raising his stick significantly and making contact with Garland’s head with enough force to warrant a suspension.

McDavid has been suspended once before in his NHL career, for an illegal check to the head of New York Islanders’ Nick Leddy in February 2019. He was also fined $5,000 in March 2021 for elbowing Jesperi Kotkaniemi of the Montreal Canadiens.

Many Oilers players expressed disagreement with the suspension. Defenseman Mattias Ekholm called the decision “way too high” and said it was “mind-blowing” that the NHL Department of Player Safety imposed such a penalty.

Canucks defenseman Tyler Myers also received a three-game suspension for a cross-check to the head of Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard, which happened right after the McDavid incident.

“I think three games is a little too much for either side,” Draisaitl added.

Jeff Skinner joined the Edmonton Oilers over the off-season with two goals in mind: To finally make the playoffs for once in his career; and put pucks in the net, like he always has.

So far, he is on track to do one of those things, with the Oilers currently challenging for top spot in the Pacific Division as his former team, the Buffalo Sabres, come to town Saturday (2 p.m., Sportsnet West).

But Edmonton’s bid to win their division for the first time since 1987 has had little to do with the addition of Skinner. In fact, add it all up and his contribution of 15 points over 43 games wearing orange and blue so far have him ranked 13th in points (seven goals, eight assists).

Averaging 6.14 games between goals this season, Skinner has been lighting the lamp the fewest of all his 15 NHL seasons, aside from his least productive one in 2020-21 under then-Sabres head coach Ralph Krueger, where limited ice time saw him play just 53 games and score seven goals.

Not exactly the productivity you’d expect from a five-time 30-goal scorer, and four-time 20-goal scorer, whose best season saw him reach 40 in 82 games in 2018-19, his first season in Buffalo.

At the same time, when the Oilers signed him in free agency back on July 1, head coach Kris Knoblauch didn’t exactly have him pencilled in way down on the fourth line past the halfway mark of the schedule.

“No, there’s been a lot of things,” Knoblauch said of the challenges Skinner has faced. “What certain lines need to work. He needs a certain amount of playmaking ability, finishing, players that can hound pucks, create turnovers, going to the net. Stuff like that.”

In other words, a more well-rounded game than someone who’s basically made a living as a pure scorer.

Case in point, Vasily Podkolzin has six goals and 13 points in 48 games this season, the majority of which have been earned on the left wing of the second line next to Leon Draisaitl — the spot originally intended for Skinner when he was signed for $3 million.

But while Podkolzin’s offensive productivity is less than Skinner’s, he has been doing all the little things, if not just about everything else right, on a line centred by the league’s leading goal scorer.

“I didn’t envision Podkolzin being in our top-six this year when we got him,” Knoblauch said of the Vancouver Canucks first-round draft pick in 2019. “We were hoping he’d fit in somewhere on the fourth line and maybe be a 10th forward, if we were lucky. And maybe 13th.

“And now he’s come in here and done what he’s supposed to do and he’s had a good fit. So, I guess it’s not always about the player but also about fitting in with what the team needs. A lot of circumstances like that.”

It could all boil down to the simple fact that there are too many cooks in the Oilers offensive kitchen.

“I think any time you go somewhere new, there’s obviously adjustments, but I felt pretty comfortable right away,” Skinner said. “We’ve got a really good group in here, a lot of older guys that have been around and been on different teams.

“I don’t know, sometimes that maybe doesn’t help, but I think in this case for us, there are some experienced guys that make guys feel comfortable.”

In the dressing room, perhaps. But likely not the unfamiliar territory of the fourth line, where Skinner finds himself despite others getting promoted in the lineup in order to make up for the void at the top with Connor McDavid’s suspension.

“Jeff, give him a lot of credit, he’s been working hard and trying to adjust his game to what we need. And attention to detail and his work ethic every day at practice, you can’t ask for much more than that,” Knoblauch said. “At some point, there’s going to be injuries and he’s going to have to step up in a bigger role.

“We’re fortunate to have a lot of good, quality players on our team. Unfortunately for him right now, it just means that he doesn’t have as much of a role as he’s been used to.”