Oilers face another Evander Kane controversy right before the opening of training camp!

The Edmonton Oilers’ training opens later on Wednesday and it has already been reported that an issue with forward Evander Kane will come up. As Jim Matheson of the Sun points out, “it’s expected winger Evander Kane will fail the doctors’ evaluation and he will need surgery on his troublesome sports hernia sometime during camp.”

Earlier this summer, Oilers president Jeff Jackson revealed that Kane was battling a hip injury, and that both camps are evaluating his situation for his future in Edmonton. For months, rumours have emerged that the Oilers are actively attempting to trade Kane in a cost-cutting trade, as he has two years left on his contract with an AAV of $5.125 million, looking to free up some space on the team’s cap. Talks have also come up on the possibility of placing Kane on the long-term injured reserve before the 2024-25 campaign gets underway. This is all part of the issue when it comes to what happens next with the Oilers’ roster and Kane’s place in it.

Kane carries a full no-movement clause until Feb. 28, when it becomes a 15-team no-trade list. Matheson wonders why the surgery didn’t take place earlier, perhaps this summer, seeing that the veteran forward will miss a significant part of the campaign.

“Why wait until now for the surgery, which, if he’s out three months, would have him returning sometime in January after practices and such.”

Matheson goes further and exposes the possibility that Kane is the one that did not want to go under the knife during his vacation, adding another controversy to his loaded resumé.

“Presumably, Kane, his agent Dan Milstein, and the Oilers talked it over and agreed on rest first before last-ditch surgery. Maybe Kane just didn’t want surgery in his downtime in the summer months. Kane has to sign off on any medical procedure.”

Pushing Kane’s deal onto the LTIR could be the best solution for the Oilers, though that will not have an impact on changing Kane’s problematic attitude.

Unfortunately.