Sabres ship 20-goal man Evander Kane to Sharks

Evander Kane, who has scored 20 goals for a third consecutive season, is joining his third NHL team in three seasons.

Rookie Buffalo Sabres general manager Jason Botterill traded the pending unrestricted free-agent forward to the San Jose Sharks on Monday. Kane is in the final season of a six-year, $31.5-million US contract.

The return is a 2019 conditional first-round pick, centre prospect Dan O'Regan and a conditional fourth-round in 2020. It would become a first-round pick should Kane sign with the Sharks.

Kane, 26, was third in Sabres' scoring this season with 40 points on 20 goals and 20 assists in 61 games, however after scoring 15 goals and 18 assists in his first 35 games, he has just five goals and two assists in his past 26.

Sharks 2nd in Pacific

"Evander is one of the top young power forwards in the NHL," Sharks GM Doug Wilson said in a statement released by the team. "He has a unique combination of size, grit, speed and goal-scoring ability.

"We wanted to add a player that could help this team but also was just hitting his prime."

Kane, who hails from Vancouver, has no NHL playoff experience and has never played a full 82-game season. His 20 goals also ranked second to injured Jack Eichel (22) on the team.

Kane moves from the Sabres, the worst team in the Eastern Conference at 19-33-11 to the 33-21-8 Sharks, who entered play Monday second to the Pacific Division-leading Vegas Golden Knights.

They are one point ahead of Anaheim and two in front of Calgary, rank 16th in the league in scoring with 178 goals and had just four goals in losing the final three games on a recent road trip that ended with a 3-2 overtime loss in Minnesota.

Low-percentage shooter

The Sabres had expressed no interest in re-signing Kane, in his ninth NHL season after being drafted fourth overall by the Atlanta Thrashers in 2009.

Sharks captain Joe Pavelski and Kane were teammates with Dynamo Minsk of the Kontinental Hockey League during the lockout-shortened 2012-13 NHL season.

"He plays an extremely hard game and I love the edge he plays with," said Pavelski.

A low-percentage shooter, Kane is on pace to beat last year's point total of 43. He had a career-high 57 points in 2011-12 in Winnipeg.

San Jose never replaced forward Patrick Marleau after he left as a free agent last July for Toronto, waiting for the right moment to add a top six forward. With centre Joe Thornton sidelined with a knee injury and the Sharks fighting for a playoff spot, Wilson pounced at the deadline.

In February 2015, then-Sabres GM Tim Murray dealt defenceman Tyler Myers, forward Drew Stafford, two prospects and a first-round pick to Winnipeg in acquiring Kane, defenceman Zach Bogosian and prospect goalie Jason Kasdorf. And it made no difference to Murray that Kane would miss the final two months of the season after having shoulder surgery.

Though the six-foot-two, 210-pound Kane has produced on the ice when healthy and been active in working with Buffalo-area charitable groups, he has been questioned for his immaturity off the ice.

• In 2014, he was accused of assault in Vancouver, the legal issues from that case widening the rift between Kane and Jets management.
• Kane's tenure in Winnipeg also included the use of a homophobic slur on Twitter.
• In December 2015, he was charged with sexual assault and six months later was arrested for grabbing three women by the hair and neck during an altercation at a Buffalo bar. Both cases were eventually dismissed.
• Earlier that year, the Sabres suspended Kane for one game for missing practice a day after pictures surfaced on social media of the player celebrating in Toronto after attending the NBA all-star game.

O'Regan, 24, had four assists in 19 games with the Sharks this season and 25 points in 31 contests with the San Jose Barracuda of the American Hockey League. Last season, the native of Berlin, Germany was named top rookie in the AHL after posting 23 goals and 58 points in 63 outings.

Drafted in the fifth round by the Sharks in 2012, O'Regan is a former standout at Boston University, where he amassed 66 goals and 154 points in as many games.