Kane's return to Oilers' lineup raises salary cap questions for management

The Edmonton Oilers activated forward Evander Kane off long-term injured reserve ahead of Tuesday night's 5-2 victory over the visiting Seattle Kraken.

Kane had been sidelined since sustaining a lacerated wrist in a Nov. 8 game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

He has five goals and 13 points in 14 games this season.

Kane's return gives the Oilers' top-six forward group a significant boost as Edmonton looks to lock down a playoff berth over the second half of the NHL season.

The Oilers offence has been firing on all cylinders of late, outscoring the opposition 22-8 over a four-game winning streak.

The team also announced forward Kailer Yamamoto and defenceman Ryan Murray have been placed on LTIR.

Yamamoto has been out since last Wednesday with an undisclosed injury while Murray has been out since Nov. 21 with a back injury.

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Niemelainen loaned to AHL affiliate

With Kane, who's in the first year of a four-year, $20.5 million US deal, the salary-cap-strapped Oilers will need to make some roster decisions.

They have options, like sending down multiple players and going to a 20-man roster or waiving a veteran with a more significant cap hit. But general manager and president Ken Holland will need to perform major salary-cap surgery in order to put Kane back on the roster. On Monday, the Oilers loaned defenceman Markus Niemelainen to their American Hockey League affiliate in Bakersfield, Calif. 

If the decisions are hard to make, head coach Jay Woodcroft said it reflects well on the organization.

"When you return a player of that calibre, it's a huge positive. The side benefit of that is when the team that's been performing well recently [the Oilers won two of three on a recent California road swing], when you return a player of that calibre, it means reshuffling. 

"It makes it more competitive to get into the lineup, it makes it more competitive to stay in the lineup. It forces the coaching staff and the management group to make hard decisions, I think those hard decisions are really good, and really healthy."

For Kane, it's a bit of déjà vu. He was introduced as an Oilers player on Jan. 28, 2002, and he was a potential spark for a team that was in a battle just to make the playoffs. He delivered, scoring 22 goals in 43 games, then added 13 goals in just 15 playoff games as Edmonton got all the way to the Western Conference finals.

Now, he's back in the Oilers lineup. It's January. And, like this time last year, the Oilers are a team that's fighting for its playoff life, currently clinging onto the final wild card spot in the Western Conference.

'I just want to play my game'

"It's pretty similar that way," Kane said. "I think last year it was a week or two later in January, right at the very end of January before the all-star break. It will be similar, and I hope I can repeat what I did last year, and hopefully be even better.

"I just want to play my game, to do what I do and bring that to the team, and that it will rub off in a positive way."

Woodcroft replaced Dave Tippett in February 2022, so Kane was already an Oiler when he took over behind the bench. But he sees the parallels between 2022 and '23.

"I think Evander had played six or seven games by that point," said Woodcroft. "But the question is valid. With his return on the horizon, for the team it's a positive to add a player of his calibre. I think it's a real positive thing for the organization. But what I didn't know till I was around him, is what a good teammate he is."

To make room for Kane, the Oilers will need to get out the calculators. Kane's cap hit is $5.125 million for a full season. The Oilers have 37 regular season games left, so there's some pro-rating on what's left, and what was spent for the first 13 games of the year, before Kane got hurt.