Moments ago, NHL insider Kevin Weekes revealed that Oilers forward Evander Kane is on pace to return from his injuries early in 2025.
Evander Kane has missed all of training camp and regular season so far recovering from an extremely complex surgery. According to Daniel Nugent-Bowman, Kane had corrective surgery for six different problems: four different abdominal muscles and two hernias.
Kane told reporters that he had initially felt the sting of the injuries in October of that season, and then proceeded to play the entire season and most of the playoffs through his injuries. Kane clearly wasn’t at his best throughout the year, but still found a way to score 24 goals and 44 points in 77 games. He played through the entire playoffs until the final games of the Stanley Cup Final, where his injury began clearly too much for him to bear, and the Oilers needed to ice a healthier player.
While there may have been some rumours about Kane’s future with the Oilers, the player and the organization seem intent on him getting healthy and back in the lineup this season and next. The Oilers have been sorely missing Kane’s physical presence in their lineup, and could easily use his goal scoring at the moment. Even when Kane was playing through these significant injuries, he still lead the Oilers in hits.
The Edmonton Oilers will be a much better team when a healthy Evander Kane returns to the lineup, so it’s great to hear that he’s on pace to return well before the playoffs. Hopefully “early 2025” means the first weeks of January, and the Oilers can get on the league’s best power forwards back on the ice as soon as possible.