As soon as the Oilers were able to acquire Evander Kane, he seemed to fit perfectly in with the team as a skilled power forward. Kane can bring significant offensive talent while playing a punishing physical game, as he already leads the team in hits.
When Kane began to miss practices and morning skates frequently earlier this year, it became a cause for concern. It had been reported that Kane was dealing with a nagging injury, but he would still be in the lineup. Last night against LA, the injury was bad enough to keep him out of the game for the first time. After the game, Knoblauch provided an update on Kane's health status.
Still battling back from their poor start and trying to make the playoffs, having a fully healthy Kane is critical to the Oilers success. If taking off a few games, or even back-to-back games can help Kane recover to full strength, the Oilers should take that opportunity. At the same time, Knoblauch and the team are clearly hoping he can make a speedy recovery and don't want him out of games for too long. While it's good that Kane could return for tonight's game in Anaheim, it's questionable whether he actually should be playing through this injury.
Over the last 11 games, the injury has clearly began to impact Kane more significantly, only scoring 2 goals and 3 points over that span. Hopefully, the time off has done some good, and he can return to the lineup with his usual explosive speed and powerful game.
