EDMONTON -- Evander Kane said he expects to be completely healthy and is eyeing a return to the Edmonton Oilers before the end of the season after having arthroscopic knee surgery Thursday.
The 33-year-old forward, who has not played this season, said the surgery will not set him back much further in his recovery from abdominal surgery in September, and will take a week or two off from his current rehabilitation before proceeding.
The expected recovery time from the surgery is 4-8 weeks.
“With regards to yesterday’s surgery, to be honest, I’m not frustrated at all," Kane said Friday. "I’m actually really happy we were able to fix that and get me to 100 percent, so when I do come back and play this year, I’m feeling 100 percent. It might put a pause for a couple of weeks on my current rehab process, but it won’t be very long.
"I think the number that was out there was 4-8 weeks and that’s getting back playing after a surgery like this. In terms or rehabbing and training and continuing to feel better, that break is going to be very short.”
Kane had surgery Sept. 20 to repair two torn hip adductor muscles, two hernias and two torn lower abdominal muscles, all of which stemmed from his playing through a sports hernia last season, when he had 44 points (24 goals, 20 assists) in 77 regular-season games and eight points (four goals, four assists) in 20 Stanley Cup Playoff games. He was unable to play in the last five games of the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers.
Edmonton battled back from a 3-0 deficit in the best-of-7 series and lost 2-1 in Game 7.
“It’s something that kind of popped up a few weeks after I had my abdominal surgery, something I noticed,” Kane said Friday. “We finally got it looked at and found that there was something that needed to be removed in my knee. It wasn’t any sort of repair work or major structural work that was done. It should be a pretty quick recovery.”
Kane has yet to skate since his abdominal surgery, but had started his rehab process, which includes work in the pool and light off-ice exercises.
“This knee procedure was something that we could manage and get that done so it wouldn’t affect me when I did come back and then possibly have to miss the entire season,” Kane said. “It’s great to get this cleaned up and I plan to be 100 percent and ready to go at some point in this season.”
Kane, on long-term injured reserve, is in the third of a four-year, $20.5 million contract he signed July 1, 2022. He played the majority of last season managing a sports hernia.
At the conclusion of last season, Kane said he took time to assess his injuries and decide on the best course of action going forward. He said the decision to have surgery came after consulting a number of doctors and players who had dealt with similar issues.
“When it comes to the injury and what it affects most last year is skating through pain,” he said. “Every time you take a stride it felt like you were tearing four or five different things. Just walking around, being able to lift your leg off the ground 6 inches was a struggle last year.
"I could barely jog or run last year, and as I sit here today, I feel 1,000 times better. I think skating will probably the biggest indicator of how good I truly do feel. Once I get back on the ice and as I sit here today, I feel that is going to go really well once I do get back on the ice.”
Selected by the Atlanta Thrashers with the No. 4 pick in the 2009 NHL Draft, Kane has 617 points (326 goals, 291 assists) in 930 regular-season games with the Thrashers, Winnipeg Jets, Buffalo Sabres, San Jose Sharks and Oilers, including 111 points (62 goals, 49 assists) in 161 games with Edmonton. He also has 43 points (26 goals, 17 assists) in 76 playoff games.
At the midway point of their season, the Oilers (25-13-3) are second in the Pacific Division, six points behind the Vegas Golden Knights. Edmonton lost 5-3 at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday and visit the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; CHSN, SNW).
“It’s never fun to not be playing and doing something that I’ve been doing for 16 years now,” Kane said. “It’s not easy to watch, at the same time, over the course of the summer and the offseason, after having a devastating loss in the Stanley Cup Final last year and not being a part of the end of the series, mentally I was kind of prepared to take the time I needed to get my body back to 100 percent and that when I come back I can be the player that everybody knows I am.
"So from a mental aspect, that’s going to be my focus the entire time.”
