Canucks insider suggests former Oiler Evander Kane causing issues in locker room

After trading away Quinn Hughes, the Canucks have hard launched their rebuild. Near the bottom of the NHL this season, they'll be trading away a lot more players at the deadline - including Evander Kane.

In a new article for the Globe and Mail, insider Gary Mason questioned that keeping Evander Kane through a rebuild could be a negative for team chemistry.

As an emotional player, Kane is someone who amplifies whatever's in the locker room. When a team is good, he's an agitator and brings energy to the group - when they're bad, some disappointing efforts deflate the team. Overall, he can be very outspoken too.

The 34 year old Kane is in the final year of his contract paying $5.125M, and is having a decent offensive year on pace for 40 points. However, there's been some major concerns raised from Canucks analysts.

Kane is slowing down after missing all of last season with injury and another year older. He still has issues with taking undisciplined penalties and makes too frequent misses with his passing. Yet, there's Canucks have had him in a feature role most of this season.

He still should have some value to a playoff contending team looking for some physicality with a scoring tough in the bottom six, and Kane does elevate his game in the playoffs.

Kane should be on the move in trade this season, and can still thrive on a quality team. It's not surprising to hear him causing locker room questions on a rebuilder, though.