#Evander Kane slams Jeff O’Neill for comments about daughter

Evander Kane is on a new team – and has a new score to settle.

The new Edmonton Oilers forward – signed this week after months of tumult with the San Jose Sharks led to his Jan. 9 contract termination – took umbrage at comments made by TSN’s Jeff O’Neill, who said he needs to repair his relationship with his daughter.

“The other day I’m listening to a radio show my buddy sent me via text. It’s Jeff O’Neill talking,” Kane told TSN. “He said something about me in a negative way and then followed it up by saying ‘he just needs to focus on having a better relationship with his daughter.’ Infuriated would be an understatement when I heard that. Infuriated. Because you are literally making a judgment about my relationship with my daughter and trying to use that in a negative way to portray me? That’s ridiculous. That’s crossing the line. I wish Jeff played in the NHL right now. That’s how mad I was.”

Earlier this month, O’Neill, an analyst for TSN who played in the NHL from 1995-2007, took part in a discussion of potential interest in Kane, who was accused of gambling on NHL games amid a high-profile divorce this offseason. Reports of Sharks teammates’ dislike of Kane, the team’s leading scorer last season, were following by a 21-game suspension for using a fake COVID-19 vaccine card and a demotion to the AHL. The 30-year-old power forward was cleared of potential violations of league protocols that led to San Jose terminating his contract.

“I would try to repair – not his relationship with anybody else, but just himself,” O’Neill said on TSN1050 on Jan. 11. “Because if the guy’s a total idiot and a goof and a jerk, no matter what happens, everyone is going to hate his guts. And that’s one thing, but he’s got to try to fix himself, his relationship with his kid.”

In December, Kane was granted sole custody of his young daughter as divorce proceedings with estranged wife Anna continue.

“People will go that extra mile to include whatever they think is juicy enough to continue to paint me in such a negative, toxic, evil way,” Kane said. “By making up and insinuating that I have a poor relationship with my daughter. What do you know about me and my daughter and our relationship? It’s disgusting.”