[sureLoss]

https://theathletic.com/2762836/2021...urce=twitterhq

By the time the Sharks held their standard individual exit meetings with Doug Wilson and Bob Boughner before the beginning of the 2021 offseason, the general manager and the head coach already knew. Evander Kane was a problem for much of the season, and many on the team hoped it would be rectified in the coming months.

Several key players informed team brass that if Kane was going to be a part of the Sharks going forward, they didn’t want to be. That’s how bad it got, and how complicated this situation has become.

“Guys were going into Doug’s office all year long,” according to one source, “saying Kane had to go. … All Doug would say is, ‘All teams have locker-room issues,’ which just isn’t true. Not the teams that win, anyway.”

“The Sharks ignored everything,” said an NHL agent who represents at least one player on the team. “Team turned a blind eye.”

“He’s now not having to really answer to anyone,” said one league source. “Nobody in that room is a fan of him. … (Boughner) likes him because he’s a good player, because he genuinely is, but the off-ice stuff is just too much at this point.”

According to The Hockey News, one agent said: “One of my clients on the Sharks just hates him, hates the negative energy he brings into the room. Only (Kane) can change that, but he may have gone too far (with the current allegations). Some guys think that they’re bigger than the team, and I guess that helps drive (Kane) on a personal basis, but in the team construct, it doesn’t play well at all.”

Another league source suggested that Kane’s only real companion in the dressing room is Timo Meier, and that the situation with Kane “is also a Timo problem.”