Conspiracy surfaces on real reason behind Evander Kane’s absence over the weekend

On Sunday, it was quickly noticed that forward Evander Kane was not part of the Edmonton Oilers’ lineup for the game against the Ottawa Senators. Before the game, the announcement was that Kane’s absence was due to a “maintenance day.” However, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman hinted at other reasons for Kane being out of the lineup and suggested what might have happened on the air of the 32 Thoughts podcast ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Jets in Winnipeg. First, Friedman started off with this: “there was a lot of conspiracy theory floating around the Oilers on Sunday night when Kane didn’t play. There was a scene of him on the bench with [Leon] Draisaitl - to me that didn’t look that bad.

“What I didn’t like on Saturday night… [Connor] McDavid and Draisaitl got pushed around. If I was [in] the Oilers organization I would not have liked how McDavid and Draisaitl were treated in Toronto. There’s nothing wrong with what the Maple Leafs did to them - they should try and rough them up - but it’s on yourselves to protect them.”

Then, he spoke specifically about Kane’s absence and what he saw happening on social media when head coach Kris Knoblauch announced Kane would miss the game because of “maintenance.” He said, “you could see in some of the tweets - you could tell the reporters who were there didn’t believe it. They cast doubt over it.

“I have to say, I wondered about it too.”

While the Oilers or Kane will not come out to debunk the whole conspiracy about his absence, it is a fact that the forward has struck with some injury issues this year. Before last night’s game, he was asked about his absence, but didn’t say much.

In the contest against the Jets on Tuesday evening however, Kane was back in action, but did not record a single point, though he fired six shots in a 4-3 overtime win.

Maybe he was being punished for something over the weekend that led the Oilers to make him sit out against the Senators…

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