Oilers' Evander Kane likely to miss game one with serious injury

Kane skated on the fourth line of practice today, still hoping to get into the playoff lineup. After practice, Oilers insider Gene Principe reported that Kane is unlikely to dress for the first game of the playoffs at least, as he's dealing with a sports hernia.

In the absence of Kane, the Oilers lineup will look quite different. Knoblauch has slotted Adam Henrique on the first line with McDavid, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins with Draisaitl on the second line. If Kane and Mattias Janmark are unavailable for game one, any one of Sam Gagner, Connor Brown, or Derek Ryan will draw into the lineup. It's very worrisome to see Kane go down with injury, but the Oilers have the depth to survive it.

A sports hernia is a significant injury that will greatly reduce Kane's impact when he does return to the lineup. He'll be dealing with constant pain in his abdomen, and likely require surgery at the end of the season to correct this. John Hopkins Medicine's website defines a hernia as the following:

This report from Principe is extremely concerning for how effective Kane can be for the remainder of the playoffs, even if he takes some time to rest. Surely he'll want to battle through the pain to play, but he won't be able to play his explosive fast and physical game. Kane was one of the Oilers best forwards in the 2022 playoffs, scoring 13 goals in 15 games - this playoff, they may have to find a way to succeed without him.