Oilers’ Evander Kane Undergoes Knee Surgery, Out Additional 4-8 Weeks

Oilers winger Evander Kane underwent a knee procedure on Thursday in Edmonton that will keep him out of the lineup for at least another four to eight weeks, the team said in a statement. While it’s unrelated to the abdominal procedure he underwent in September that’s kept him sidelined for all of the regular season thus far, he’ll need to pause his rehabilitation schedule from that surgery to focus on his knee, the club said.

Kane, 33, should now be considered doubtful to play at all in the regular season. The veteran power forward played through a sports hernia for a good portion of 2023-24, which ended up requiring major surgery at the beginning of training camp to repair it, as well as two torn hip adductor muscles and two torn lower abdominal muscles.

The initial prognosis was a four-month return timeline, which would have put him back in the lineup sometime around the 4 Nations Face-Off. Instead, he’ll now surely be out past the trade deadline and potentially into the postseason.

Kane’s injuries took a toll on his production in 2023-24. While his 77 games played were his most since arriving in Edmonton for the 2021-22 season, his 24 goals and 44 points worked out to 0.57 points per game – his worst since the 2015-16 campaign.

In turn, Kane saw his ice time drop from nearly 19 minutes per game in 2022-23 to 16:47 per game last year, his lowest usage since his rookie season in Atlanta in 2009-10. He added eight points and a league-high 37 PIMs in 20 postseason contests as his Oilers advanced to the Stanley Cup Final.

Crucially for Edmonton, Kane missing the rest of the regular season would allow them to keep his $5.125MM cap hit on long-term injured reserve through the trade deadline. The Oilers have done a good job staying out of LTIR throughout the year, so they should be able to take full advantage of that flexibility on deadline day and will likely be able to make a couple of adds without too much financial worry.