Edmonton Oilers power forward Evander Kane remains intent on returning to NHL action this season. He’s just not sure exactly when that will be.
The 33-year-old forward, sidelined for the entire 2024-25 season so far, provided an update on his progress Friday, a day after undergoing knee surgery.
“My focus has been getting back to 100 per cent,” Kane said Friday. “That's why I got the procedure done yesterday, so I could feel 100 per cent when I get back and there are no issues moving forward. Whenever I'm 100 per cent. I will make myself available to play hockey.
“We're not there today. I'm not exactly sure what date that will be, but what I can promise everybody is that I'm doing everything I can to make sure that's as soon as possible.”
Kane is no stranger to operating rooms. In the fall, he underwent abdominal surgery to repair both abductors, two hernias, and two abdominal tears. Recovery from that extensive operation was expected to take at least five to six months.
The latest procedure, a knee scope, comes with a recovery timeline of four to eight weeks, according to the Oilers. However, Kane said his abdominal rehab schedule should only be impacted by a couple of weeks.
Kane said the knee issue was something that “popped up” a few weeks after his abdominal surgery. He said that something was removed from his knee, but there were no major structural issues or repairs that needed to be done.
Kane tried to play through severe abdominal pain last season but finally had to take a seat during the Stanley Cup final, only playing two games in the series.
He wasn’t on the ice when the Oilers fell to the Florida Panthers in Game 7 of the championship series. Watching the Panthers celebrate with the Cup, he knew he couldn’t return as a shadow of himself. To get back to full health, he needed to address the nagging injuries — no matter how long it took.
"It's never fun to not be playing something that you’ve been doing for 16 years," Kane said. "So it's not easy to watch. But, at the same time, I think over the summer and the off-season, after having a devastating loss in the final last year — and not being able to be a part of the end of the series — mentally, I was kind of prepared to take the time I needed to get my body back to 100 per cent.
“That way, when I come back, I know I can be a player that everybody knows I am.”
The Oilers are on an 18-4-1 run and currently sit in second place in the Pacific Division.
Kane scored 24 goals in 77 regular-season games last season and has 326 goals in 930 career games. Known as an agitator, he has 1,186 penalty minutes in his NHL career.
But a power forward can’t thrive while in pain, and Kane admitted to enduring plenty of it last season. As of now, he has yet to resume skating.
“When it comes to the injury and what it affected the most last year, it’s skating through pain,” said Kane. “Just walking around and being able to lift your leg off the ground six inches, that was a struggle … I could barely jog or run last year, so as I sit here today, I feel a thousand times better.
"I feel that the body is going to do really well once I do get back on the ice."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 10, 2025.
Steven Sandor, The Canadian Press