The Oilers suffered a dramatic loss in Game 1 to the Kings, with top-nine forward Evander Kane unavailable as he has been all season, having undergone multiple surgeries. He and defenseman John Klingberg, who’s been out since late March with a lower-body injury, have been cleared by Edmonton’s medical staff and will be in the lineup for Game 2 tonight as they try to even the series, head coach Kris Knoblauch said (via the team’s Tony Brar).
It’s not unexpected – Knoblauch said yesterday there was a strong possibility of both being cleared. Both ended the season on long-term injured reserve and will technically need to be activated. However, that’s an inconsequential move as roster limits and the salary cap are no longer in effect during the playoffs.
Tonight will be Kane’s first game since Game 2 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final on June 10, so that’s 317 days between games. The 33-year-old played through a sports hernia to end last season and paid the price. He underwent surgery in September and also required corrective action on two torn hip adductors and lower abdominal muscles. He was initially expected to return around January, but a knee issue arose during his recovery that required surgery in early January. That kept him on LTIR for the balance of the regular season, although he’s been skating now for a couple of weeks.
When Kane is healthy, he’s been an impact player for the Oilers in the postseason. He led the playoffs with 13 goals in just 15 games in Edmonton’s run to the Western Conference Final in 2022 and has 20-10–30 in 47 postseason games as an Oiler overall. Edmonton will bank on him being an important secondary scoring option after Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid, Zach Hyman, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins combined to score 48.3% of the Oilers’ total goals in the regular season.
In a follow-up report from Brar, it appears Kane will join Nugent-Hopkins and Hyman on the team’s second line, while Klingberg will play next to Jake Walman on the second defensive pairing. Although there’s nothing to pull from the 2024-25 campaign, the offensive trio combined for a 60.6% xGoals% last season in 83.1 minutes of action according to MoneyPuck. Should the Oilers receive something similar this evening and for the remainder of the series, the Kings will have a hard time defending against Edmonton’s offense.
Meanwhile, the Oilers have intelligently placed Klingberg next to a capable, defensive-minded blue liner. Despite nearly doubling his career-high in points this season, Walman is best known for his defensive prowess, earning an E +/- of 3.9 in 15 games with Edmonton after the trade deadline and an on-ice save percentage of 92.1% at even strength. In contrast, Klingberg had a lower performance, recording an E +/- of -1.9 over 11 games.
The LTIR stuff is embarrassing. So many April miracles!
If you had thicker skin you would not embarrass so easily and thus not be continually upset by roster moves that were collectively bargained.
Thicker skin? You seem to be taking my comment personally. It’s objectively lame to rest your players for the playoffs. Also, for posterity sake it absolutely was not bargained as being used. The assumption is a player on the LTIR is, well, injured and all this miraculously healthy Game 1 of the playoffs is lying by omission.
Yes, thicker skin. When you admittedly get embarrassed by roster moves that are part of a system that was collectively bargained, you need to develop thicker skin. Given the strong likelihood that you were not sitting in on the collective bargaining talks, you have no idea what discussions took place on this topic and are making it up as you go. Maybe the player was ready to go for the last few games of the season but the team held him back as a precaution as the playoff games are more important than the last few regular season games. It is not some miracle that the player is ready to go for the playoffs, but rather wise roster management. But you go on with your amusing chatter about lying by omission. It is fun to watch.