NHL Clears Sharks' Evander Kane of Gambling Allegations

The NHL announced Wednesday that it found no evidence that San Jose Sharks left winger Evander Kane gambled on league games or negatively impacted his own team's games.

Reporter Elliotte Friedman shared the release:

The release did point out, "Additional unrelated allegations, however, involving potential wrongdoing by Mr. Kane have been brought to our attention. These allegations are being thoroughly investigated."

The Sharks released a statement saying they will continue to cooperate with the NHL and revealing that Kane will not join the team at training camp for the time being:

Zac Al-Khateeb of Sporting News noted Kane's estranged wife, Anna Kane, accused her husband of being a "compulsive gambling addict" who bet on his own games with bookies.

In July, the NHL announced it was investigating the allegations, which it took "very seriously."

The Sharks also released a statement: "The Sharks have been in contact today with the (NHL) about the serious allegations made against Evander Kane.  We support a full and transparent investigation into the situation to maintain the integrity of the game and consistency with our team values."

Kane denied the allegations in August:

He also joined ESPN's Linda Cohn and further denied the accusations even though he acknowledged he had a gambling addiction that contributed to his need to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in January.

"Obviously [the accusations are] incredibly false," he told Cohn. "It's unfortunate that transpired, and it's unfortunate that those false allegations were made. I understood the magnitude of them immediately. I know [they're] not true. I know none of what she was saying was true. I was very confident, comfortable with knowing that I was going to be exonerated and am going to be exonerated of those allegations."

The Cosmopolitan hotel and casino in Las Vegas sued Kane in April 2019 and said he didn't pay the $500,000 the casino extended him via gambling markers. The ESPN story noted the Cosmopolitan eventually dropped the case.

Kevin Kurz of The Athletic reported that "several of Evander Kane's teammates don't want the Sharks winger to return to the team next season."

On Wednesday, A.J. Perez of Front Office Sports obtained court documents revealing Kane was facing allegations of sexual assault and domestic violence from Anna.

TMZ Sports reported Anna filed for divorce in July.