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Sharks' Kane confident he'll be cleared in gambling investigation

Brandon Magnus / National Hockey League / Getty

San Jose Sharks forward Evander Kane believes he'll be cleared in the NHL's investigation of his estranged wife's allegations that he gambled and threw his own games.

"Obviously (the accusations are) incredibly false. It's unfortunate that transpired, and it's unfortunate that those false allegations were made," Kane told ESPN's Linda Cohn.

"I understood the magnitude of them immediately," he added. "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."

Kane's wife, Anna, shared the allegations on Instagram in July. He denied the claims, and the NHL promptly announced it would investigate. The results of the league's probe are expected to be released before training camps open next week.

The veteran is adamant he's never gambled on an NHL game, but he told Cohn his addiction led to him filing for bankruptcy earlier this year.

"When you have a problem, sometimes you can't control your decision-making at that time. 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," Kane said.

"You just keep digging a deeper hole," he continued. "At the end of the day, it's something that I went through and I'm looking forward to moving (on)."

Kane is under contract with the Sharks for four more seasons at $7 million per campaign. He led with club with 49 points over 56 games in 2020-21, but reports surfaced this offseason that San Jose tried to trade the 30-year-old and several teammates don't want him back.

There's a modified no-trade clause in his contract for the remainder of the deal that only allows him to be moved to three teams of his choosing.

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