Evander Kane Thinks He’ll Be Exonerated From NHL Gambling Investigation

San Jose Sharks left winger Evander Kane said in an ESPN interview that aired Thursday that he thinks he'll be exonerated from an NHL investigation into allegations that he placed wagers on his own games.

Kane's estranged wife, Anna, alleged in an Instagram post in July that the hockey player gambled with bookies on his own NHL games.

The NHL launched an investigation shortly thereafter.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said to ESPN he expects the investigation to be finalized before the start of training camp next week.

Requests for fair comment made via email and phone call to Kane’s agent were not returned, but Kane repeatedly denied his wife's allegations to ESPN.

"Obviously [the accusations are] incredibly false. It's unfortunate that transpired, and it's unfortunate that those false allegations were made," Kane said. "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 29-year-old filed for federal Chapter 7 bankruptcy in California earlier this year, claiming he lost $1.5 million from sports gambling and from gambling at casinos over the last year.

The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas had also filed a lawsuit in 2019 seeking $500,000 in damages from Kane for unpaid casino debts. The casino dropped the case in 2020.

Kane confirmed to ESPN that he had a gambling addiction that resulted in millions of dollars in losses.

"When you have a problem, sometimes you can't control your decision-making at that time," Kane said. "I think that was an example of my problem getting the better of me. I had a gambling problem. And when you have a gambling problem, just like a drinking problem or a drug problem, sometimes you can't control your actions."