Oilers reportedly close to making announcement on Evander Kane
Photo credit: USA Today
Evander Kane battled through injury through all of last year's playoffs, but now his health status may force him to miss significant time to begin the upcoming season.
Earlier this week, General Manager Stan Bowman told OilersNow that the team is evaluating all options, and will announce a decision on his health status soon. It appears that decision may be coming now, as the 2 Mutts Hockey Podcast is reporting that an announcement is imminent.
Kane revealed to the media before the playoffs began that he was battling a sports hernia, and later in the playoffs sustained several more injures. According to Elliotte Friedman, Kane has also dealt with a significant hip injury that could require surgery and keep him out of the lineup for months.
»I believe Evander Kane is going to have surgery . . . one of the reasons it's taken this long was because there was some conversations about who was going to do it (surgery), which doctor, and I think they had to work that out . . . he's going to be out months. I'm not talking 1 or 2 months, I think it's going to be longer than that.»
- Elliotte Friedman, 32 Thoughts
- Elliotte Friedman, 32 Thoughts
With the Oilers pressed tight against the salary cap this season, there was plenty of speculation that Evander Kane could be moved in a trade. That's clearly not the case anymore, as the Oilers are back under the salary cap to start the next year. If Kane is set to come back late in the year, the Oilers could borrow a strategy from the Vegas Golden Knights and ice a roster millions over the salary cap in the playoffs.
Still, losing Evander Kane for any amount of time makes the Oilers a worse team. He wasn't able to fully perform last season being bogged down by injuries, but when he's at his best, Kane is one of the premier power forwards in the NHL - both a physical threat and a scoring threat on the ice. Hopefully he is able to make a return this season.
| POLL | ||
10 SEPTEMBRE | 161 ANSWERS Oilers reportedly close to making announcement on Evander Kane Do you think Evander Kane will return before the playoffs? | ||
| Yes, he'll be back in the regular season | 91 | 56.5 % |
| No, he'll come back for the playoffs | 63 | 39.1 % |
| See Results | 7 | 4.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
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