EVANDER KANE

The NHL Players’ Association has filed a grievance against the San Jose Sharks for terminating the remainder of Evander Kane’s contract, a person with direct knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press on Monday.

The grievance, contending the Sharks did not have sufficient grounds to make the move, was filed Sunday night, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the matter is now in the league’s hands.

The Sharks placed Kane on unconditional waivers on Saturday, saying the forward violated COVID-19 protocols while with the AHL Barracuda. Kane went unclaimed over the 24-hour period, putting the Sharks in position to terminate the remainder of the player’s contract.

The move will cost Kane about $22.9 million from the seven-year, $49 million deal he signed in May 2018.

Kane is now a free agent and open to sign with any team, while awaiting the start of the grievance process.

The decision to terminate Kane’s contract ended a monthslong saga in San Jose. Kane faced accusations of gambling on games, purposely losing games he bet on, as well as sexual and physical abuse from estranged wife, Anna, over the summer.

The NHL investigated and found no evidence to support those allegations, but did suspend Kane for 21 games for submitting a fake COVID-19 vaccination card. When the suspension was lifted at the end of November, the Sharks placed Kane on waivers and sent him to the AHL when he was unclaimed.

The 30-year-old Kane has 264 goals and 242 assists in 769 career games, also playing for Atlanta/Winnipeg and Buffalo.

STARS: Coach Rick Bowness was fined $25,000 for twice slamming a stick against the boards behind the bench seconds after his team’s 2-1 loss at St. Louis a day earlier.

The Blues scored two power-play goals in the final minute, the 11th time in NHL history that a team won in regulation after trailing by one with a minute left.

COVID-19: The NHL has postponed Tuesday night’s scheduled game between the Carolina Hurricanes and Philadelphia Flyers because of COVID-19 issues with the Flyers, the league said.

A spike in infections driven by the omicron variant of the coronavirus has led to frequent postponements in recent weeks. Three games scheduled for Monday night were called off. The Hurricanes-Flyers game was the second scheduled for Tuesday to be postponed, and the 104th postponement this season.

Philadelphia last played on Saturday night, an overtime win at home over San Jose. Captain Claude Giroux, forward Travis Konecny and defensemen Travis Sanheim and Ivan Provorov sat out because of health and safety protocols.

The league did not immediately announce a makeup date for Tuesday night’s game. The New York Islanders’ scheduled game at Calgary on Tuesday night was also called off.

MONDAY’S GAME

AVALANCHE 4, KRAKEN 3: Nazem Kadri scored the go-ahead goal late in the third period, and surging Colorado won at home.

Nicolas Aube-Kubel had two goals and Devon Toews also scored for Colorado, which beat former goalie Philipp Grubauer to win its 12th straight at home and fifth in a row overall.

Grubauer, who had 31 saves, played the previous three seasons with the Avalanche. He received a warm reception from the crowd when he was first shown on the scoreboard. He was 30-9-1 in 40 games with Colorado last season but was a casualty of the salary cap, became a free agent in the summer and signed a six-year, $35.4 million deal with Seattle.

Marcus Johansson, Jared McCann and Colin Backwell had goals to put Seattle ahead 3-1 in the second period.