Evander Kane could be a healthy scratch next

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Liam McCormick
December 21, 2023 (2:15 PM)

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The Oilers dug themselves a deep hole in the standings to begin this year, and even though they've mitigated the damage with a recent eight game win streak, every game is still critical to get the win, and keep the team in the playoff hunt.

To that end, head coach Kris Knoblauch needs to dress the best lineup every night, even if that means making tough decisions with veteran players. Ahead of tonight's game, Connor Brown was healthy scratched for his early season struggles, despite his pedigree and $3.225M salary. Now, OilersNation is suggesting that Evander Kane could be the next one to see the press box.

In the last few weeks, Kane has routinely missed practices and is supposedly nursing a nagging injury, but it's clearly affecting his play. Kane has only 2 points in his last eight games, and is noticeably not the explosive power forward he usually is. In addition, OilersNation takes a look at his analytics, which profiles similarly to Connor Brown.

Perhaps Kane is limping to the holiday break while battling an injury, and the few days off can do him well in healing. However, if Kane isn't able to pick up the pace of his play and production, Knoblauch shouldn't be afraid to send a message by scratching him if need be.