Edmonton Oilers player review and 2023-24 preview: Evander Kane

Welcome back, Evander Kane.

In terms of tough years, did anyone have it harder than Evander Kane? The obvious mark for his down season in the big picture can easily be seen by the fact he has his wrist severed during a horrific accident last November. The incident happened all of 14 games into the season, and Kane had been red hot to start the year with five goals and 13 points over that stretch.

But from his return to the lineup to the time the season wrapped up, things were tumultuous, at best. His 11 goals and 15 points in 27 games is adequate production, but he also dealt with a rib injury that limited him in games, while his wrist was visibly not where it used to be.

Yet, still, Kane as a whole produced points. Hard to argue with that.

Heading into this season, a healthy Kane is going to be key. As shown in his charts from HockeyViz above, there’s been a notable drop off in his game as a whole over the last four years even dating back to his time before joining the Oilers. That’s undoubtedly something that should bring cause for concern, but if Kane can pot 30+ goals for the Oilers, be a physical force in the top-six, then that will be hard to argue with.