EDMONTON — With surgery finally upcoming for Evander Kane after weeks of consultations and hemming and hawing, his hockey team has prepared for life without him.
Kane will go under the knife in the next couple of days, he said, to repair both hip adductors, two lower abdominal tears and two hernias. The ailments hampered his effectiveness in the playoffs to the point where he was shut down by the Edmonton Oilers partway through the Stanley Cup Final.
The veteran winger played hurt almost all of last season. He said he felt something was wrong in late October. His health then regressed in December or January to the point where it was “severely worse” in the playoffs. He disclosed before the postseason that he was managing a sports hernia injury.
Kane said he met with three different groups of doctors this summer about his health issues and talked with a few different NHL players who’d dealt with similar situations, namely Columbus Blue Jackets forward Sean Monahan. With rehabilitation proving fruitless, Kane opted for surgery.
“It’s something that I want to get fixed once, get fixed correctly and continue my playing career,” he said.
Kane believes he’ll regain full health at some point. Just when is up in the air.
Though there’s no timeline for a return to play, Oilers GM Stan Bowman said Kane won’t be ready to start the season and will be out “a while.” Asked if the injuries could cost him the entire 2024-25 season, Kane couldn’t give a definitive answer.
“I certainly hope not,” he said.
But beyond the intrigue about Kane’s health, his status with the Oilers has almost felt immaterial given his reduced role last season and how hockey operations CEO Jeff Jackson augmented the top six on July 1.
Established wingers Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner were signed and coach Kris Knoblauch plans to start the duo next to Leon Draisaitl. The top line of Connor McDavid between Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman is set to remain intact. Knoblauch also wants to start camp with the third line that finished the playoffs of Adam Henrique, Mattias Janmark and Connor Brown.
That mix leaves Kane with no obvious place in the lineup when he’s ready to suit up — or if he does again.
Of course, a lot can happen before a potential Kane return — chiefly injuries to other players, which could impact the salary-cap matrix for the team. The Oilers are already monitoring an injury to Darnell Nurse, who got hurt in the final, and he won’t be available until later in camp, Bowman said.
A notable injury or two could force Bowman to place Kane on LTIR, something he’s aiming to avoid doing. Bowman said the goal is to accrue cap space, which would allow him to make a more significant addition or additions to the roster before the trade deadline. PuckPedia projects the Oilers to have just over $945,000 in space even with Kane activated. There’s no need to place him on IR because the Oilers aren’t expected to be at the 23-player limit.
The main area to monitor isn’t a scoring winger to replace Kane but rather right defence behind Evan Bouchard. Bowman said he expects offseason acquisitions Josh Brown and Ty Emberson and the retained Troy Stecher to all be factors this season. He noted he’ll continue watching the UFA market and waiver wire.
“We have to sort that part of our game out,” Bowman said.
There doesn’t seem to be much of a concern about the top six or nine without Kane.
Kane has been one of the top power forwards in the sport when healthy and motivated. His play down the stretch after signing with the Oilers as a free agent in January 2022 was next level. He scored 22 goals in 43 regular season games and added 13 more in 15 playoff games.
However, a devasting wrist injury suffered that November, combined with other health problems, have impacted Kane’s usefulness. So has a diminished role. Kane was time-sharing the net-front position on the first power-play unit with Hyman before the injury. He’s never regained that role.
There could still be a way for Kane to make a meaningful impact for the Oilers if he returns from the injury and gets his footing back. It feels like that’s critical for Kane to do at this point.
It’s also worth noting the no-movement clause in Kane’s contract becomes a partial no-trade clause on Feb. 28. Per PuckPedia, a buyout of Kane in June would rid the Oilers of the final year of his $5.125 million AAV deal. He’d be on their books for $2,458,333 in 2025-26 and $1,333,333 in 2026-27. Of course, injured players cannot be bought out.
(Photo: Stephen R. Sylvanie / USA Today)
