Oilers’ Evander Kane to have surgery, miss start of season

Edmonton Oilers forward Evander Kane will undergo surgery and be sidelined into the start of the regular season, general manager Stan Bowman announced Wednesday.

“He’s going to be out for a while,” Bowman said, without revealing the specific nature of the surgery. “I don’t want to speculate on that. I think our doctors will be able to give you a better handle on that, but he’s not going to be here for a while.”

Kane, 33, recorded 44 points (24 goals, 20 assists) in 77 games during the regular season in 2023-24 and eight points (four goals, four assists) in 20 playoff games. He missed the last five games of the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers because of a sports hernia.

“I think the goal there was to determine the best path forward with his injury,” Bowman said. “… When players are injured, there’s oftentimes a couple of different ways you can proceed. You get a diagnosis and sometimes it can be rehab and sometimes it’s definite surgery, sometimes surgery is an option, but you might want to try and rehab it before.

“At the end of the day, nobody really wants to have surgery. There’s always complications that can come from that. Evander would probably better suited to speak on that.”

Kane has totaled 617 points (326 goals, 291 assists) in 930 career games with the Atlanta/Winnipeg franchise, Buffalo Sabres, San Jose Sharks and Oilers. He was selected by the Thrashers with the fourth pick of the 2009 NHL draft.