NHL News: Kane files grievance, Carey Price status, and more postponed games
The NHLPA filed a grievance Monday over the termination of Evander Kane’s contract by the San Jose Sharks.
The Sharks officially terminated the veteran forward’s deal Sunday night after placing him on unconditional waivers Saturday. Kane went unclaimed.
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Evander Kane contract termination
The Sharks claim that Kane breached his NHL Standard Player Contract by violating the American Hockey League COVID-19 protocol. He served a 21-game suspension for submitting a fake vaccination card and was assigned to the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda.
Kane was fully vaccinated before being reinstated, the team said. However, he traveled home to Vancouver while in COVID protocol last month in a violation of league rules, according to reports.
“We are aware of the Sharks’ decision to put Evander on waivers for contract termination. If he clears, we will file a grievance,” Kane’s agent said on Saturday. “The Sharks do not have sufficient grounds for taking this action.”
He was in the fourth season of a seven-year, $49 million contract signed in May 2018. He will forfeit $22.8 million. NHL contracts are guaranteed.
Kane, 30, is an unrestricted free agent and has reportedly garnered interest from many teams.
Carey Price status
There has been some recent speculation the the Habs will offer Carey Price the same courtesy that was extended by Jeff Gorton in 2018 to New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist.
Lundqvist opted to stay for the rebuild but still ended up being a buyout before his contract was up.
“Would the Canadiens and Price say well maybe another team might want you, but the only way that could work is if you get healthy and play some games this year so other teams can see that you’re alright,” Elliotte Friedman recently pondered. “I think at some point that conversation is going to have to happen.”
Price, 34, is former Hart and Vezina Trophy recipient owning a 360-257-79 record with 49 shutouts, a .917 save percentage and a 2.50 goals-against average in 707 games (695 starts) since Montreal drafted him No. 5 overall in 2005.
He has four more years on his deal that comes with an AAV of $10.5M. Even if the Habs and Price agree to move on, it will take a serious retention of salary for a deal to happen.
Now the speculation has turned to if Price has any incentive to even play this season. With the Habs out of playoff contention and no Olympics to look forward to, does he have any reason to come back?
“No one has told me that Carey doesn’t have a chance of playing this year,” said coach Dominique Ducharme. “We talked about the steps he needs to go through. It’s certain that with the time we lost that we couldn’t even be in this building. That was time for treatment, time for practice that he and other players didn’t have.”
Sportsnet
What happens next with Price is ultimately up to him. But this is one Habs storyline to follow until the trade deadline.
More Games Postponed
Due to COVID-19-related issues affecting the New Jersey Devils and Edmonton Oilers, Monday night’s Tampa Bay at New Jersey and Ottawa at Edmonton games have been postponed.
Two additional games set for Monday, the Columbus Blue Jackets visiting the Montreal Canadiens and the Minnesota Wild at the Winnipeg Jets, were also postponed due to attendance restrictions stemming from the pandemic in certain Canadian cities.
Makeup dates for the Blue Jackets-Canadiens, Wild-Jets and Lightning-Devils matchups have not been scheduled.
The Senators-Oilers game has been rescheduled for Saturday at Edmonton.
–Field Level Media contributed to this report
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