The sputtering Edmonton Oilers are considering all possible outcomes ahead of the trade deadline when it comes to Evander Kane.
The Oilers remain in a holding pattern as they explore options to improve their roster before next Friday’s 1 p.m. MT deadline because of the uncertainty regarding Kane. The veteran winger hasn’t played since June because of multiple injuries and it remains unclear when he’ll make his season debut.
That uncertainty has created roster-management issues all season and continues to cause headaches as the deadline approaches.
It’s part of the reason why the Oilers, losers of five straight games before a 3-1 win against Carolina on Saturday, are now at least open to dealing Kane. His no-movement clause was downgraded to a partial no-trade clause on Friday, and he can now block a trade to half the teams in the NHL rather than having full control of his situation.
Trading Kane would be a difficult task for the Oilers for several reasons.
Not only has Kane been sidelined for more than eight months, but he’s still multiple weeks away from game action. The market for the 33-year-old is limited because of his modified no-trade clause and because he’s burned bridges around the league over the years. Kane can be strategic with his trade list and fill it with teams that’ll have no interest in acquiring him.
The Oilers could gain a ton of clarity if they were able to jettison Kane and his $5.125 million cap hit for this season and next.
The Oilers remain unsure about whether Kane will be healthy in time to compete in the regular season or if he’ll be sidelined until the playoffs. The distinction is critical for cap reasons.
A Kane season debut before the first round means the Oilers must have the requisite cap space to remove him from LTIR and add him to the active roster. They have much of Kane’s cap hit to work with to enhance the roster if he stays out until the regular season concludes.
The Oilers have lots of positions that can be augmented with that $5.1 million: scoring winger, depth forwards, defence and possibly in net. They’re going to have a difficult time addressing any of those areas if they can’t put their LTIR pool to use.
That’s where trading Kane has the most appeal. Otherwise, there are pros and cons to moving him out.
Kane is one of the few power forwards remaining in the NHL when he’s healthy and on top of his game. That was so apparent after the Oilers signed him as a free agent in January 2022. Kane scored 22 goals in 43 games to close out that regular season before netting 13 goals in 15 contests as the Oilers reached the Western Conference final.
However, he’s rarely been anywhere close to his best form since sustaining a devastating wrist injury in November 2022. He’s dealt with a myriad of injuries from that point on.
Expecting Kane to jump back into the lineup at some point in the weeks ahead and be a noteworthy contributor is a big ask. Of course, he wasn’t shy about voicing his frustration last season when he felt his opportunities were lacking while receiving bottom-six minutes amid a 16-game winning streak.
(Photo: Dilip Vishwanat / Getty Images)
