Evander Kane ….
Evander Kane played this past season in the NHL for the Winnipeg Jets
Position: LW Shoots: Left
DOB: Aug.2,
Height: 6’2 Weight: 195
Selected by: Atlanta Round: 1st Overall: 4th Year: 2009 NHL Entry Draft
Four Years Later
I like to pick a current roster player on one of my favorite teams and look back at their post draft projections. The projections are based on their amateur careers and draft position. One of my favorite websites for this sort of thing is Hockey’s Future. Evander Kane played 2 seasons in the WHL for the Vancouver Giants. In his final season, he posted an impressive 48 goals, 48 assists for a total of 96 points along with 89 PIM and a +51 rating in 61 games. Let’s see what the guys at Hockey’s Future said.
After Four Years In The NHL
It’s been 4 years since the 2009 NHL Entry Draft and Evander Kane’s evaluation from the guys at Hockey’s Future was pretty solid. Their analysis of Evander Kane is pretty close to how I would evaluate him today with a few exceptions.
His offensive game is transitioning nicely from the junior game to the professional game as shown by his steady increase in goals scored the last four seasons. Since he is and will be primarily considered a goal scorer, we’ll look at his goals scored as the benchmark.
Kane’s goals scored increased from 14 to 19 to 30 to 17 (pro-rated 29) in his four NHL seasons. Last years pro-rated 29 goals might be perceived as a set-back but if you consider Kane didn’t have consistent NHL caliber 2nd line team-mates for most or all of the season, I am not concerned about his ability to score goals. Evander Kane did not see regular 1st unit power-play time either which will not be the case in the future.
Right now, I would consider Kane to be one of the most explosive skaters in all of the NHL as well as having one of the best wrist shots in the league. Evander Kane’s hasn’t even come close to his reaching his ceiling so the next couple of years should prove to be very interesting.
The one thing that Evander Kane does consistently EVERY night that this current team doesn’t do consistently is compete. Last season, the Jets had a lot of passengers. Evander Kane wasn’t one of them. Evander Kane plays the game with a high-motor and lots of passion that gets him in trouble at times. He has taken ill advised penalties and has been criticized for it and that’s fair. Do I mind a 2 minute penalty for going hard to the net? Hell no!! Do I mind the 2 minute penalty for beaking at the referee? Absolutely!!
Evander Kane has an under-rated defensive game and was actually quite effective when Jets coach Claude Noel used him as a penalty killer. Kane is on a path to evolve into a player that will play in all key situations whether it be the PP of PK.
The guys at Hockey’s Future gave him a Prospect Talent Score (PTS) of 8.0 and a Probability Of Success (POS) rating of B. I’d have to think he’s already there and should easily surpass those ratings. My only critique of Kane’s game is the occasional bad penalty and hopefully as he matures those will be eliminated. Evander Kane is still growing as a player. He has potential to be a 40 plus goal scorer.
With all due respect to Andrew Ladd, the Jets top LW going forward will be Evander Kane. In a perfect world, Ladd, Little and Setoguchi would be the Winnipeg Jets second line. The Jets have a 1st line LW in Kane and a 1st line RW in Wheeler so this team needs to find or develop a number one center.
In conclusion, there isn’t a team in the NHL that wouldn’t love a 6’2 power forward like Kane that can score and plays a solid 200 foot game with a very high compete level . Evander Kane has gone from a “Prospect” to a “Bonafide NHL’er” and the next step is a “NHL All-Star”.
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