The Edmonton Oilers announced this morning that Evander Kane underwent successful knee surgery on Thursday. Kane is already sidelined due to abdominal surgery that he got in order to repair his sports hernia. This new surgery has likely pushed his recovery back because he is not going to be able to help rehab his abdominal injury while he is recovering from his knee surgery.
#Oilers forward Evander Kane underwent successful knee surgery on Thursday in Edmonton & is expected to require four to eight weeks of recovery time.
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) January 10, 2025
Read the full statement ⤵️ https://t.co/cQcw6pGBrz
For the Edmonton Oilers, Evander Kane getting this surgery right now is a mix of good and bad. While from a humanitarian aspect, it must be tough for Kane to be sidelined this long. It would be nice to see Kane on this lineup, but he is expected to play this season again, but I assume it will be in the playoffs. It was going to be close prior to the knee surgery. With the added delay of the knee, he will likely be in the playoffs.
Pro for the Oilers
There is really only one positive for the Edmonton Oilers regarding this additional surgery and that is with Kane being on the LTIR till the playoffs the Oilers will have an extra $5.1 million in cap space to play with at the deadline. With that much room in the cap the Oilers should be able to bring in a solid player to help fill out this roster.
While the rest of the NHL may be upset with the fact that the Oilers will getting Kane back for the playoffs and not have to worry about his cap hit, all the Oilers will be excited for it. The Oilers have had to deal with the Vegas Golden Knights doing this with Mark Stone for a couple of seasons, so now thta it happening to the Oilers we feel no sorrow for other teams.
Con for the Oilers
There is some bad for the Oilers with Kane being out longer. The obvious one is the fact that I would love to see what type of game shape he would be in because it will be a long time between games for Kane. While it will be nice for the salary cap if he joins the Oilers in the playoff, what type of shape is he going to be in. It is not like he would be coming into a regular season game; the NHL playoffs are a much tougher than the regular season. When one mistake can make or break a game do you want to put in a rusty player.
The main point of this whole thing is that Evander Kane is working his way to being 100% healthy and at the end of the day that is the most important thing that comes out of his surgeries. So, we wish Kane the best in recovery and when he is recovered, we wish him great success for the Oilers.