Evander Kane has resumed skating as he works toward a potential return to the Edmonton Oilers lineup, according to insider Jason Gregor.
The veteran winger, who underwent sports hernia surgery in September and knee surgery in early January, had not been on the ice since last season’s playoffs.
"Evander Kane has started skating," Gregor posted on X on Friday. "He has skated the past two days and around 60% pace, as he will need time to get back up to speed."
While there's no clear timeline for Kane's return to action, this is a positive development on his road to recovery and the chances of strengthening the Oilers' offense during the postseason run.
Kane initially attempted to play through the injury last season but was ultimately shut down for surgery.
Further complicating his recovery, the 33-year-old underwent another unrelated surgery in January, which general manager Stan Bowman described as an unexpected development.
“It was a surprise because it wasn’t an injury-type situation,” Bowman told The Athletic on Jan. 10. “This is just a random thing that came up.
“Once it was obvious that he had something, he had to get a couple of opinions and decide how best to handle it.”
Gregor noted that Kane is not yet skating at full speed, making it unlikely that he will return during the regular season.
Kane is in the third year of a four-year, $20.5 million contract and last played in 20 postseason games for the Oilers, scoring four goals last summer.
Most interestingly, Kane's comeback could impact Edmonton's cap situation and how they manage the trade deadline and the second half of the season. The Oilers only have slightly under $724,000 in cap space, but they have more than $5.1 million allocated to their long-term injured reserve pool.
As Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli discussed on Feb. 12 appearing on "Oilersnation Everyday", if Kane is activated before the playoffs, the team would likely have to make a dollar-in, dollar-out trade as his salary would count against the Oilers cap.
