Oilers make move to bring Evander Kane back on the active roster!

On Tuesday, the Edmonton Oilers sent winger Drake Caggiula down to the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors, allowing the team to place Evander Kane back on the active roster to accrue cap space. As team insider Daniel Nugent-Bowman reports:

“The Oilers now have 12 healthy forwards plus Kane and Connor McDavid, who appears to be closing in on a return from his ankle injury.”

Kane has yet to play with the Oilers this season after undergoing surgeries to repair two hernias, two torn abdominal muscles and both abductors on September 20th. While fans imagined it would take quite a bit of time to see Kane suit up in Edmonton, insider Kevin Weekes reported last month that Kane should return from injury in “early 2025”.

His return could definitely boost the Oilers up front as they’ve been dealing with a sluggish start to the campaign, however, it was expected that moves would come to make room for him. Not that space has been worked around in the lineup, the Oilers now need to make sure they are cap compliant ahead of Kane’s return.

Really, Kane wasn’t expected to return during the regular season and that’s in part why his $5,125,000 cap hit was placed on Long-Term Injured Reserve. At this time, according to Puck Pedia, the Oilers have $1.5 million in cap space at this time and a projected $4.8 million available at the trade deadline in March.

McDavid is currently sidelined with a lower-body injury, but is expected to return sooner than first anticipated. The Oilers will then have to figure things out for Kane and his paycheque in the books.