A power forward has reached a significant milestone.
On Monday night, when the puck dropped between the Vancouver Canucks and Vegas Golden Knights, Canucks forward Evander Kane officially played in the 1,000th game of his NHL career.
Kane became the 424th player in league history to reach the millennial mark, and the 16th player to do so this season. The Vancouver native is also the fourth player to reach 1,000 games this month, joining Minnesota Wild captain Jared Spurgeon, New York Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad and Seattle Kraken defenseman Adam Larsson.
Kane becomes just the ninth player in NHL history to have worn a Canucks uniform when playing in their 1,000th game. He joins a class of Pit Martin, Ryan Walter, Dave Babych, Trevor Linden, Markus Naslund, Henrik and Daniel Sedin, and Tyler Myers.
The 34-year-old’s path to 1,000 games certainly hasn’t been smooth. Taken fourth overall pick by the Atlanta Thrashers in the 2009 NHL Draft, Kane spent the first six seasons of his career with the organization, which relocated north to become the Winnipeg Jets in 2011. A tumultuous end to his tenure, reportedly having issues with members of the roster, led to Kane being dealt to the Buffalo Sabres before the trade deadline in 2015.
After almost two seasons in Buffalo, Kane was on the move again as he was traded to the San Jose Sharks in February 2018. He was a key part of a couple of postseason runs in Northern California and was signed to a seven-year contract in the summer of 2018. However, just a few years in, his contract was terminated after a couple of instances leading up to the 2021-22 season. He was first suspended 21 games for providing a fake COVID vaccination card, but then was put on unconditional waivers shortly after it was revealed that he traveled back and forth across the border to Vancouver while positive for COVID.
Not long after his buyout, the Edmonton Oilers signed Kane for the remainder of the season. He became an important cog for Edmonton, as they made it to the Western Conference final in three of his four seasons, including the Stanley Cup Final in 2024 and 2025.
After the loss to the Florida Panthers last season, Edmonton traded Kane to the Canucks for a draft pick. So far this season, on a struggling Vancouver team, the local product has scored 12 goals and 30 points in 69 games.
In his first 999 regular-season games in the NHL, Kane has scored 338 goals and 309 assists for 647 points, with another 55 points in 97 postseason games.
