After missing the entire 2024-25 NHL regular season, Edmonton Oilers forward Evander Kane could be on the verge of returning to action.
TSN’s Ryan Rishaug reported on Monday (April 14) that “it appears to be trending in the direction that Evander Kane will be ready for Game 1 of the postseason,” although the Oilers “are not ready to confirm it just yet.”
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Edmonton faces the Los Angeles Kings in the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The schedule has yet to be released, but it is believed the best-of-seven series will open at Crypto.com Arena on April 20 or 21.
Kane Hasn’t Played in 10 Months
Kane last suited up for the Oilers on June 10 of last year, in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final. He had gutted out a sports hernia through the first three rounds of the 2024 NHL Playoffs but was struggling to such a degree that Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch finally had to take Kane out of the lineup prior to Game 3 of the championship series against the Florida Panthers.
Last September, Kane had surgery to repair two torn hip adductor muscles, two hernias and two torn lower abdominal muscles. He then had knee surgery on Jan. 9.
Kane started skating again with the Oilers on March 20, and now, after being back on the ice for nearly a month, the 33-year-old is poised to rejoin Edmonton’s lineup.
“I’ve been watching him skate for a few weeks, he’s got lots of jump in his stride,” Rishaug said. “Talking to him (Monday), he’s certainly eager, and when he compares how he feels right now to how he felt last year in the playoffs when he was still playing games, he says it’s not even close.”
Kane could be a game-changer for the Oilers, who need all the help they can get. Edmonton has been decimated by injuries recently, from the crease to the blue line and especially at forward. Captain Connor McDavid recently returned from an eight-game absence, while centre Leon Draisaitl and wingers Trent Frederic and Zach Hyman all remained out of the lineup for Edmonton’s 5-0 loss to the Kings at Rogers Place on Monday.
But Kane is more than just another body on the bench. The 33-year-old left wing is exactly who the Oilers need to take on the red-hot Kings.
Kane Has Lit Up Los Angeles
Edmonton has beaten Los Angeles in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs each of the last three years, and arguably no Oiler has been a bigger thorn in the Kings’ side than Kane.
In 18 playoff games against Los Angeles, Kane has scored a whopping 12 times, while rifling 73 shots – more than four per game – on net. He potted seven goals in seven games in 2022, notched three goals in six games in 2023, and tallied twice in five games one year ago. Only Draisaitl has scored more goals for the Oilers against Los Angeles over the last three postseasons.
Evander Kane let’s everyone know what’s next… GAME 7 👀🚨 pic.twitter.com/k8lEIuEJuV
— Hockey Night in Canada (@hockeynight) May 13, 2022
Kane has scored some absolutely massive goals against the Kings. Three years ago, with Edmonton facing elimination on the road in Game 6, he scored twice, including into an empty net with one minute remaining to secure a 4-2 victory for the Oilers. He famously celebrated by holding up seven fingers to let everyone know the series was headed back to Rogers Place for Game 7, which Edmonton won.
In 2023, with the Oilers behind 2-1 in the series and trailing 4-3 late in Game 4, Kane buried the biscuit at 16:58 of the third period to send the contest to overtime. Hyman scored in sudden death and Edmonton went on to win the series in six games.
Last year, Kane opened the scoring in Edmonton’s series-clinching 4-3 win in Game 5, putting the puck past Kings netminder David Rittich at 10:17 of the first period to set the stage for his team to advance.
Kane Brings Toughness to Oilers
For all of Kane’s offensive exploits, it might be his intangibles that Edmonton has most dearly missed and could desperately use against the Kings.
Few, if any, other members of Edmonton’s forward unit have quite the physical presence of the 6-foot-2 Kane. And outside of the soon-to-be-40-year-old Corey Perry, no other Oiler gets under the skin and in the grill of opponents as much as Kane.
Kane led Edmonton in 2023-24 with 250 hits, the fifth-highest single-season total for an Oilers skater since the NHL started officially tracking hits in 2005-06. Since joining the Oilers midway through the 2021-22 regular season, he’s recorded 3.16 hits per game, one of the highest averages in franchise history.
Without Kane wrecking shop this season, Edmonton has dropped to dead last in the NHL for hits. The Oilers had previously ranked 15th, 16th, and 16th for hits in each of the last three seasons, respectively.
Los Angeles was 3-1-0 against the Oilers this season, allowing just one goal over the last three head-to-head games. The Kings have the best home record in the NHL (31-5-4 with one game left to play) and are 17-4-0 in their last 21 games.
Suffice it to say, there is a lot that tilts the scales of this series towards Los Angeles. The addition of 220 pounds worth of Evander Kane on the side of Edmonton just might balance things out.
