Evander Kane is once more the subject of hockey headlines as a result of off ice issues. Following several posts from what appears to be Kane’s wife’s social media accounts, Anna Kane insinuated that Kane has been not only actively betting on his games, but also going so far as to intentionally lose for profit.
The NHL issued the following statement on its website “The League was made aware this evening of a post on social media alleging that San Jose Sharks Player Evander Kane bet on NHL games. The integrity of our game is paramount and the League takes these allegations very seriously. We intend to conduct a full investigation and will have no further comment at this time.”
Kane is currently 3 years into a 7 year $49M deal with San Jose that carries an AAV cap hit of $7M per season. Despite the substantial salary, in January Kane filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy in California citing over $1.5M in gambling losses and $26.8M in total liabilities against only $10.2M in assets.
The soon to be 30 year old winger posted 49 pts (22G, 27A) in 56 games for San Jose in the COVID shortened 2021 season. The issue is likely to draw extra scrutiny from the league as the NHL, like many other professional sports leagues, is in the midst of forming partnerships with sportsbooks and online gambling sites. Fans’ abilities to legally wager on NHL games presents an extremely lucrative avenue for the league and owners of the 32 teams. Any doubt, whether proven or not, regarding the integrity of outcomes would obviously have massive financial repercussions.
This is a developing story.