Gary Lawless reports that Evander Kane is “mulling over” a Winnipeg Jets’ six-year deal that would be worth “in the neighborhood of” $29 million. That would mean he’d register a cap hit of just under $5 million per season ($4.83 million, to be exact).
Kane will turn 21 in August, so under the current CBA guidelines, such a deal would cover him until his first year of unrestricted free agent eligibility. There was some talk that Kane didn’t want to sign with the Jets in June, but reports began circulating that discussions were picking up about a week ago.
The franchise drafted him fourth overall in 2009. If Kane agrees to this offer, he’d generate a considerably larger cap hit than third pick Matt Duchene and about $620K less per year than top choice John Tavares.
Kane set career-highs in goals (30), assists (27), points (57), plus/minus (+11) and games played (74) last season. He also set a new high mark in shots on goal, with 287 - good for ninth overall in the NHL. Kane’s 30 goals topped all Jets players while he was second on the team in points behind Blake Wheeler, who had 64.