SAN JOSE — Last winter’s Evander Kane trade raised eyebrows in Sharks territory because of head coach Pete DeBoer’s relationship with Winnipeg Jets bench boss Paul Maurice.
Maurice gave DeBoer his first coaching job with the Ontario Hockey League’s Detroit Junior Red Wings back in 1994-95 and they remain close pals to this day. Surely, DeBoer would know a thing or two about Kane’s tumultuous relationship with his teammates in Winnipeg and be hesitant to bring the embattled forward into his locker room.
Instead, the Sharks insists that the opposite is true. Any concerns he had about bringing Kane in the Sharks dressing room were mollified by his conversations with Maurice.