San Jose Sharks: Evander Kane has untapped potential

Evander Kane of the San Jose Sharks is having one of the finest seasons of his career. But he has the potential to be so much more.

Evander Kane of the San Jose Sharks is a talented hockey player. He was drafted 4th overall by the Atlanta Thrashers (now known as the Winnipeg Jets) in 2009. So clearly he has the talent to be elite. And he has been a really good player.

But I would not call him great. He falls short. And there’s no reason why this has to happen. Let’s examine what I mean. You see, Kane is a fantastic hockey player. He could very well end up in Toronto one day at the NHL Hall of Fame among the greats. But this is not good enough – Kane has the talent to guarantee his spot there.

More from Puck Prose

• Detroit Red Wings 2023 Rookie Camp Has Plenty of Ups and Downs
• This Columbus Blue Jackets rookie doesn’t want to be forgotten
• 2 trades the Boston Bruins must make to secure the Stanley Cup
• 3 reasons the Avalanche won’t win the Stanley Cup in 2024
• This is a big year for Alex Turcotte and the Los Angeles Kings

He has all the physical tools to be one of the best. But Kane tends to lose focus in some games, usually for no reason. If he feels like he was wronged, he will try to exact a little revenge. And while I commend players for starting their ground, it should not be done at the expense of their team’s chances of winning.

A good example of this happened recently in a game in Boston versus the Bruins. When the Bruins went up big on the Sharks, Kane seemed to want to mix things up with the Bruins. Granted this is not frowned upon typically. But when the Bruins declined to get involved in any that stuff, they were up on the scoreboard and had no reason to want to get involved physically with the game in control.

That was until Kane took a run at Zdeno Chara and missed. Seconds later Chara took a run at Kane and got him up high with a possible elbow. Kane then proceeded to try to sucker punch the Bruins captain from behind while in the process of jumping him. And incredibly, he still lost the fight.

But this article is not about that one instance. This is a common theme with Kane. He loses his cool repeatedly and it ends up hurting his team. For example, Kane was suspended for one game for a cross-check to the neck of Pierre-Edouard Bellemare in the third period of their playoff series last year in the playoffs against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Kane Reminds Me of Marchand

This is a repeated process for Kane, and the kicker is, he doesn’t need to play like this. He is a supremely talented hockey player. In fact, he reminds me a lot of Brad Marchand.

When people think of Marchand, they probably think that he is a dirty player who goes out and tries to hurt people. Well, if you look at what Kane has done in the past, you could make the same argument. But for some reason, he isn’t considered a villain like Marchand.

Don’t get me wrong, Marchand has done so pretty despicable stuff. But over time, Kane has made some dirty plays himself. Let’s not paint him as a saint when he is not one. But like Marchand, if Kane can stay on the ice and contribute without taking any bad penalties, or at least not take them as often, he could easily be a 35-40 goal scorer and be considered one of the best players in the NHL before his time is up.

Kane spends far too much time in the penalty box for his own good. By doing so, he tends to hurt his team in the process.

Take Inspiration from Iginla

This is a great time to point out that Kane has a chance to be one of the best black hockey players of all-time. He should try to mirror himself after Jarome Iginla. Iginla played the game with grace and honor and rarely took a bad penalty. And he even fought from time to time. Usually when the time was right.

It is easy to draw parallels between Kane and Iginla because both possess high-level talent. The main difference is the latter acted like a true leader. As great as Kane is, he has yet to show he has that ability. Kane has the talent to be a tremendous player. But he lacks the discipline to be a great leader.

And it is a shame because if he played with less of an edge and played more of a skilled game, he could be a shoo-in for the NHL Hall of Fame. As it stands now though? It is hard to see. Especially since a guy with such talent only has one 30-goal season in his career to this point.

Kane can be a Hall of Fame player. But the question is, can he mature enough by the time his career ends to make it to that level? Or will he be a player who was good, but not great, mainly because of discipline issues? Only time will tell.

But if he keeps this up, he will have a hard time being considered one of the best. And that is a shame because Kane possesses the skills needed to be in the discussion when his career ends to be in the Hall of Fame discussion.