Kane likely to miss start of Oilers season with significant injury
The Edmonton Oilers are likely to place forward Evander Kane on LTIR to start next season, according to a new report from a team insider.
After a season that saw Kane put up 24 goals and 44 points in 77 regular-season games with the Oilers, the power-forward struggled with injuries in the playoffs and wound up missing the last five games of the team’s Stanley Cup Final series against the Florida Panthers.
A new report from 630 CHED’s Bob Stauffer indicates that Kane’s injury woes are more serious than initially thought and that the 33-year-old will may require surgery. This would keep him out of the Oilers lineup to start the season, and Stauffer reported that this will probably lead to the team placing Kane on LTIR.
Hearing there is a very good chance that the @EdmontonOilers Evander Kane won't be ready for the start of the season…that he may require surgery…and is likely to be on LTIR to start the year
— Bob Stauffer (@Bob_Stauffer) August 12, 2024
Kane admitted to playing through a sports hernia at the onset of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and it’s unclear whether or not his current injury is related to that.
This has some serious implications for how the Oilers will construct their lineup for the start of next season. Kane was expected to be playing in the top nine for the Oilers, whether on the second or third line, and his absence will shuffle the chairs a bit and perhaps allow a player like Dylan Holloway to move up the lineup.
It would also open up some cap space for the Oilers, which could help them lock up RFA players like Holloway and defenceman Philip Broberg to new deals. By placing Kane on LTIR, the Oilers would open up an additional $5.125 million in cap space, which would bring the team’s total cap room to about $7.8 million. That additional cap space would be removed as soon as Kane is healthy and available to return to action.
This comes after a few months of speculation on whether or not the Oilers would try to move Kane’s contract in a trade. Given the additions of Jeff Skinner and the sudden emergence of Holloway, it was quickly becoming apparent that Kane might not have a spot in Edmonton’s top-six forward group anymore.
If Kane does find his way onto LTIR, he would be out of action for at least the first 10 games of the season and the first 24 days on the active roster.
We’ll see where this ends up in a month or two.