Edmonton Oilers now have cap space for big trade after Evander Kane update
It looks like we have finally got our answer with Evander Kane’s status, and it’s good news for the Edmonton Oilers’ trade deadline plans.
After weeks of speculation on whether or not the Oilers would have Kane’s LTIR cap space to work with, a new report has shed some light. TSN’s Ryan Rishaug sent out an update on social media this morning indicating that Kane is likely out until the playoffs, leaving the Oilers with a lot more cap space to work with ahead of tomorrow’s deadline.
My understanding is Kane hasn’t put back to back days of intense workouts together, and as the deadline draws near it’s perhaps becoming more apparent that a return at playoff time is more likely.. with that said they’ll be careful here, but my sense is we could see them with…
— Ryan Rishaug (@TSNRyanRishaug) March 6, 2025
This means that the Oilers will be able to add up to Kane’s $5.125 million cap hit on any deadline additions without having to worry about making room for him to come back in the playoffs. If Kane returns in the postseason, the Oilers won’t be breaking any rules because there is no cap limit in the playoffs.
We have seen various teams take advantage of this loophole in recent years. The Vegas Golden Knights are notorious for exploiting it, having used Mark Stone’s LTIR savings in previous seasons to make significant deadline adds.
Right now, according to PuckPedia, the Oilers have technically already spent a bit of those savings on their first trade of the deadline. Bringing in a double-retained Trent Frederic ($575,000) and Max Jones ($1 million) has reduced their current cap space from $5.125 million down to about $3.7 million.
That can go up easily, however, with just a few moves. The most significant would be sending down Jones, which will open up an additional $1 million to bump that up to $4.7 million. The Oilers will also be sending down defenceman Cam Dineen once their defensive corps gets healthy again, opening up an additional $775,000.
That could give the Oilers around $5 million in cap space to work around, which is enough to make a significant deal if they wanted.
It may sound outlandish but, theoretically, Edmonton could fit a 50 per cent retained Mikko Rantanen ($2.3 million) with that space and still have a tiny bit of room to work with. Now, having the cap space to do that is one thing, while having the assets is a whole other story. It does, however, prove that Edmonton may not be strictly dollar-in, dollar-out.
The excuse of lack of cap space is now invalid for GM Stan Bowman, will he be able to turn it into a deal or two?