Top NHL insider Elliotte Friedman provides major update on Evander Kane's surgery and recovery period

NHL insider Elliotte Friedman shared an important update on Edmonton Oilers' forward Evander Kane's recovery after surgery. Kane underwent surgery in New York on Friday. According to Friedman, while there is no exact timeline for his return, he is expected to be out until January or February.

"Evander Kane had his surgery Friday in NYC. No exact timeline for recovery, but not expected to be available until January/February," Friedman tweeted on X.

Kane needed surgery to fix injuries from a sports hernia he played through last season. According to Derek Van Diest of NHL.com, Kane had two torn hip adductor muscles, two hernias, and two torn lower abdominal muscles.

Oilers GM Stan Bowman also confirmed to NHL.com on Wednesday that Kane will be out for a while.

"He's going to be out for a while. I don't want to speculate on that. I think our doctors will be able to give you a better handle on that, but he's not going to be here for a while," Bowman said.

The 33-year-old forward scored 24 goals and 44 points in 77 games last season. He may start the 2024-25 season on long-term injured reserve (LTIR), which could give the Oilers some salary cap relief.

To prepare for Kane's absence, the Oilers signed Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson this summer.

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Evander Kane talks about his journey with the Injury

Evander Kane missed the last five games of the Stanley Cup Final as the Edmonton Oilers lost to the Florida Panthers in seven games. He said that his injury started in October and got worse by December and January. By the playoffs, the injury was severe, but he continued to play to help his team.

"I felt something was wrong in late October, I noticed something, and it just kind of slowly got worse over time," Kane said via NHL.com "Probably in December or January it was getting much worse."

"But at the same time, the thing with this injury is that some days you feel better than others. Obviously in the [Stanley Cup] Playoffs, by the time we got around to that, it wasn’t any better, it was getting severely worse.

"At the same time you’re trying to do anything you can because you want to give yourself and your teammates the best opportunity to win. That's what I was trying to do." Kane added.

After the season, Evander Kane took time to assess his injuries. He consulted several doctors and players who had similar problems, like Sean Monahan, for treatment advice.