PROJECTED LINEUP: Kane to make his season debut in Game 2 vs. Kings

LOS ANGELES, CA – The Kane Train has arrived.

After making his last appearance almost 10 months ago in the Stanley Cup Final, winger Evander Kane is set to make his season debut for the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night when they face the Los Angeles Kings in Game 2 of their first-round series at Crypto.com Arena.

“It's obviously been a long time since I last played a game, so it’s nice to get in and get an opportunity to contribute,” Kane said after this morning’s skate.

Head Coach Kris Knoblauch confirmed following this morning's pre-game skate that Evander Kane has been cleared to make his return to the Oilers lineup for the first time since Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final on June 10, 2024.

Kane has spent the past seven months recovering from surgery on Sept. 20 to repair two torn hip adductor muscles, two hernias and two torn lower abdominal muscles before he underwent further arthroscopic knee surgery on Jan. 9, having been on LTIR for the entire 2024-25 NHL campaign.

After spending significant time recovering and the past several weeks building up his fitness, the 33-year-old looks ready to make his long-awaited return for Game 2 at Crypto.com Arena after taking line rushes in a top-six white jersey alongside Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on the second line.

Coach Knoblauch feels confident with Kane's skillset and attributes that he can return immediately to make an impact in a scoring role for the Oilers.

"I think it matters to be impactful and being in a position to score goals," Knoblauch said. "I think Ryan's a good playmaker. We saw it numerous times throughout the year when he moved to centre playing with Arvidsson, Podkolzin and Brown – being able to dish and make some nice plays, but also having reliability if you're going to be playing significant minutes. Ryan's a very reliable defensive minded player that can cover up."

"He'll be playing against other teams at the top line, so I think that's important also, but we're optimistic that Evander can play well and contribute and the best way to do that is playing him in a significant role."

Kane had three points (2G, 1A) in five games against the Kings in last year’s first round and totalled eight points (4G, 4A) in 20 post-season appearances before ending his season after Game 2 of the Final due to injury. Edmonton will also get back the services of defenceman John Klingberg, who's been cleared to return as well and will replace Josh Brown in the lineup, who only played 4:45 of ice time for the Oilers over 10 shifts in Game 1.

"He's been out for several weeks right now, but he's a guy that's had a long NHL career, a lot of playoff games and can handle the pressure on of the moment," Knoblauch said. "Certainly, we feel that he's going to be playing more than [Brown], especially if we're we're trailing in a game.

"He can give us some offence, but in all round situations, we would like our six guys playing a little bit more and we're not sure where his minutes are going to end up being, but I would expect to be a little more than Josh the other night."

View the Oilers Projected Lineup for Game 2 vs. Los Angeles below:

Draisaitl - McDavid - Perry
Kane - Nugent-Hopkins - Hyman
Frederic - Henrique - Brown
Podkolzin - Janmark - Arvidsson

Nurse - Bouchard
Walman - Klingberg
Kulak - Emberson

Skinner
Pickard