The Oilers gave Kane full permission to negotiate contract terms with other teams prior to the opening of free agency. He might have signed before technically becoming a free agent, but he certainly knew what the market was going to be. The Flames did not give Gaudreau permission to talk to any other teams.
The situation with the Sharks wouldn't have had any impact on another team signing him. There's no chance the league would have restored his contract with San Jose -- neither side would have wanted that. That was only ever about determining what monetary and cap penalties the Sharks would face for terminating his contract. In fact, the Oilers probably saved San Jose a bunch of money by giving him so much.
He wrote a thank you letter to Oiler fans. I've never seen that from a player who later re-signed with that same team. I can't imagine him writing that if his heart was set on re-signing with the Oilers.
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