One of the ongoing and most important storylines involving the Edmonton Oilers, is the situation surrounding Evander Kane. More specifically, how much longer is he expected to be absent, with him yet to see even a second of playing time in 2024-25.
As you'd anticipate, this was brought up by Sportsnet's Mark Spector during a Q&A Oilers general manager Stan Bowman, although his answer didn't really give much clarity. He said:
"I don't have any new update right now. Evander has been doing his rehab, but as far as his timeline and all that, I don't have anything new to share."
Now we realise that Spector isn't the most popular of media members in Edmonton, among some of the players and the fan base alike. However, he deserves due credit for not leaving the matter alone following Bowman's initial reply.
Spector took a slightly different approach with his followup question regarding Kane, by referencing the need to know soon, given that the trade deadline is now just under two months away. Bowman said:
"Very true. We’ll need clarity on that for sure, when he's available and all that stuff. It can impact how much cap space we have. They do go hand in hand and we should be getting an update very soon."
Takeaways from Bowman's comments
The first thought is that, at least Spector's followup question took us from there being no timeline for Kane's return, to Oilers fans getting an update very soon. While this isn't much as of right now, it's at least something to hang your hat on.
As we wrote last month, Oilers Now host Bob Stauffer had indicated that the earliest to expect Kane back, would be sometime in March. At the time this was noteworthy, because of the fact the trade deadline is Mar. 7.
It will of course be interesting to discover what the amended injury timeline is like, when the Oilers next provide an update on Kane. It will also, as Bowman mentions, be crucial in respect of how much money the front office has to play around with prior to the trade deadline.
Our prediction of how this all plays out
We have a gut feeling -- and that's all it is based on what information is available -- that Kane is not going to be traded. We will also add a prediction that he is not going to return for the Oilers until the playoffs, because of the impact on the salary cap.
At one point, there was a belief that the Oilers wanted to trade the polarising winger, so that they could use his $5.125 million cap hit to improve the team in other ways. However, they are in a situation now where they can still use that money, without having to move him.
We appreciate the majority of people reading this will already be well aware, but just in case, as long as Kane remains on long-term injured reserve then the Oilers can effectively go over the salary cap and use his $5.125 million for other players. And as long as he doesn't return until the playoffs begin, the front office will not have to account for any of his cap hit which they use.
As a result of this, we suspect it is contributing towards why the Oilers have been so cagey about providing any updates on Kane's injury. In addition, the team is doing just fine without him as things stand, but will benefit more from his physical approach and ability to get under the skin of opponents, come playoff time.
There is the argument that if Kane is ready to return prior to the playoffs, then he would want to get some regular season action under his belt, to help him get back into game shape. At the same time, he does feel an immense debt of gratitude to the Oilers, after they effectively saved his NHL career by signing him.
Overall, we understand that anything can happen in the world of hockey (with the possible exception of making the game a success in Arizona), and there's a chance Kane could still be traded or return prior to the playoffs. However, we ultimately stand by our prediction that he won't be back until after the regular season concludes on Apr. 16.