Sharks leave Evander Kane off of opening day roster for 2021-22 NHL season

Evander Kane’s season will remain off the ice for the foreseeable future.

As teams around the NHL submitted their opening day rosters on Monday, the San Jose Sharks did not include one of their more skilled forwards among the 22 names, as Kane has been left off the list. The 30-year-old forward is considered a “non-roster player pending completion of the NHL’s investigation.”

Most recently, Kane has been the centre of an investigation regarding the use of falsified vaccination cards, a violation that could lead to up to five years in prison according to United States federal law.

This is after he faced allegations of sexual assault, domestic violence, and gambling on his own games, from his estranged wife Anna this summer. Due to the serious nature of said allegations, the Sharks and Kane mutually agreed that the player was not going to participate in training camp activities.

The NHL did complete an independent investigation into the gambling claim from Anna, and did not find any evidence to support it.

It is difficult to determine when — or if — Kane will be playing in the NHL again after the series of allegations. If he is suspended without pay, Kane’s $7-million cap hit will come off of the Sharks’ books.

For the Sharks, they will be without the player that led them in both goals and points just last season. While they are certainly not expecting the current squad to be in hot contention for the postseason, they do have their newest first-round pick William Eklund making the team at 18 years old, to draw some attention to the club.

San Jose begins its season at home on Saturday against the Winnipeg Jets.

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