SAN JOSE, Calif. – General manager Mike Grier is hoping the NHL Players’ Association’s grievance against the Sharks — filed in January on Evander Kane’s behalf — can be put to rest soon even though there remained no end in sight as of earlier this week.
Bill Daly, the NHL’s deputy commissioner, wrote in an email Monday to this news organization that a date to resume the NHLPA’s grievance hearing against the Sharks had not yet been scheduled, potentially dragging out what has already been a months-long process.
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to put that behind us and we can move on from it,” Grier said Wednesday night after a question and answer session with season ticket holders at Tech CU Arena.
“It’s been something that’s been talked about a lot, it’s taken a lot of people’s time and effort but so hopefully we’ll be able to put some closure to it.”
Grier would not say whether the Sharks would be open to a settlement with Kane’s camp at this juncture.
“I’m not going to get into that,” Grier said. “I think we’re just hoping that it gets resolved soon.”
The NHLPA filed a grievance on Kane’s behalf shortly after the Sharks placed the winger on unconditional waivers and terminated what was left of his seven-year, $49 million contract.
Asked if the Sharks have been in contact with Kane’s agent, Dan Milstein, Grier said, “the people on our side are working on it, the PA and the league, and (Kane’s) representative are all working to get this thing settled as quickly as possible.”
The Sharks and Kane’s camp had a hearing related to the grievance in New York in April. The hearing, which took place roughly two weeks before the start of the NHL playoffs, was not completed that day, leaving open the question of when it would resume.
Daly told reporters in June that since the league’s arbitrator was unavailable that month, it was possible that the issue would not be resolved before the start of free agency on July 13.
Kane was a pending UFA before he signed a four-year, $20.5 million contract extension with Edmonton on July 12. Kane had joined the Oilers on a one-year deal in January.
Now with training camps around the league set to begin next week, the possibility exists that it could be several more weeks before there’s a resolution.
“Hopefully a resolution comes quickly and (Kane) can put it behind him and we can put it behind us,” Grier said.
Daly had previously said he could not elaborate on why the hearing was taking so long to be rescheduled. The NHL Players’ Association – which filed the grievance on Kane’s behalf – has also been mum regarding the delay.
Believing Kane breached his contract and violated AHL COVID-19 protocols while he was the Barracuda, the Sharks in January terminated what was left of the deal the two sides agreed to in May 2018. The NHL believes the Sharks had just cause for the termination.
If it is determined the Sharks had sufficient cause, then the team is free and clear of their financial obligation to Kane, roughly $22.9 million.
However, if the arbitrator rules that the Sharks did not have sufficient grounds, Kane’s deal with Edmonton dissolves and he would become San Jose’s property again, with his previous contract still intact, including his modified no-trade clause.
The third possibility is a settlement between the Sharks and Kane.
The Sharks, though, didn’t approach free agency as if they would still be on the hook for some or all Kane’s contract.
Although they freed up millions in cap space by trading defenseman Brent Burns to Carolina and buying out the final year of forward Rudolfs Balcers’ deal, they also signed forwards Luke Kunin, Oskar Lindblom, Nico Sturm, and Steven Lorentz, and defensemen Markus Nutivaara and Matt Benning to contracts that have a combined cap hit of $11.05 million for this season.
The Sharks, as of Tuesday, had just over $200,000 in cap space, per CapFriendly, with 23 players on the roster.
