Evander Kane leaves the NHL and signs for KHL club Sibir

Sibir Novosibirsk of the KHL, Russia's top hockey league, said on Tuesday, 10 November, that it had signed Canadian forward Evander Kane, 35, to a one-year contract. Kane played 16 NHL seasons but went unsigned as an unrestricted free agent after last season with the Vancouver Canucks.

NHL career

Kane was drafted fourth overall by the Atlanta Thrashers in 2009 and went on to play for the Winnipeg Jets, Buffalo Sabres, San Jose Sharks, Edmonton Oilers and the Canucks. He has 1,001 regular-season games and 648 points (339 goals and 309 assists), plus 55 points (32 goals and 23 assists) in 97 play-off games. He reached the Stanley Cup final with Edmonton in 2024 and 2025, losing both times.

Kane missed the whole 2024-25 regular season, and in June 2025 Edmonton traded him to Vancouver for a draft pick. Last season he scored 13 goals and 31 points in 71 games for the Canucks.

Why Russia

His agent, Dan Milstein, said last week that Kane had offers in North America but wanted to play in Russia. Sibir general manager Lev Krutokhvostov said signing Kane carried certain risks, adding: “Maybe our team needs a rebel like that.” He named Kane's power-play game as one of his main strengths.

It is not Kane's first spell in the KHL. During the 2012-13 NHL lockout he played 12 games for Dinamo Minsk, scoring one goal and one assist.