- Ak Bars Kazan has shown interest in signing Evander Kane, per Sport-Express
- Kane is still without a contract more than a month into NHL free agency
- Read below for full details on Kane’s KHL option and where his market stands
Evander Kane still doesn’t have an NHL contract. He does have a suitor, and it plays in Russia.
Ak Bars Kazan has shown interest in signing the 35-year-old winger for the 2026-27 season, per Sport-Express reporter Mikhail Zislis, whose report was relayed by Pro Hockey Rumors. It’s the first club publicly tied to Kane since free agency opened July 1.
Whether Kane feels the same way about Kazan is a separate question, and nobody has answered it yet. His focus is almost certainly a 17th NHL season.
Getting one is proving harder than expected. Kane put up 13 goals and 18 assists in 71 games for Vancouver last season along with 111 hits, a steep drop from the player Edmonton once leaned on in the playoffs.
The season did hand him a milestone. Kane skated in his 1,000th NHL game on March 30 in Vegas and opened the scoring, becoming just the third player born in Vancouver to reach the mark.
Watch Kane mic’d up for game No. 1,000:
The Canucks held his ceremony five days later at Rogers Arena, with the East Vancouver kid honored in front of his hometown crowd.
He only landed there because Edmonton wanted out from under his $5.125 million cap hit. The Canucks picked him up for a fourth-round pick in June 2025 and hoped to flip him at the deadline for more. No deal ever came together, and Kane played sparingly down the stretch.
Across 1,001 career games, Kane has 339 goals, 309 assists, 1,278 penalty minutes and 2,324 hits. Nine of those seasons ended with 20 or more goals. Any team signing him now is buying a bottom-six forward, not that guy.
Russia keeps circling the leftovers of this market. Evgenii Dadonov drew KHL interest of his own in late July while NHL offers stayed quiet.
Kane turned 35 on Aug. 2. If nothing surfaces in North America by September, Kazan is the fallback he now knows exists.
