Edmonton Oilers winger Evander Kane out vs. Senators due to team-decided maintenance day

The Edmonton Oilers will be without Evander Kane Sunday afternoon as he rests for a maintenance day, head coach Kris Knoblauch said.

During Saturday night’s game, Kane played 15:21 minutes of ice time, taking two shots on goal, scoring one assist and laying one hit. He took seven shifts in each of the first two periods and four in the third, while there was no indication of a potential injury happening in the game.

“As a coaching staff and a training staff, it was our decision. I think it was best,” said Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch, when asked where the decision for a maintenance day for Kane came from. “Evander, I’m sure, would’ve loved to play through it. He is a competitor and a warrior.

“We felt for the long-run, it was best for him to not play.”

Derek Ryan will draw into the lineup, and the lines will be revealed during warmups.

Kane, 32, has appeared in 67 of 68 games for the Oilers this season, scoring 21 goals and 49 points. He’s been a regular in the lineup all season long, missing just one game this season on Dec. 30th, as the power forward was dealing with a groin injury, Sportsnet’s Mark Spector reported at the time. His being out of the lineup was made known as warmups began, and the Oilers won that game against the LA Kings 3-2 in a shootout.

Kane had an excellent start to his 2023-24 season, scoring 14 goals and 24 points through his first 33 games of the season. That put him on pace to score 34 goals and 59 points on the season—putting him on pace offensively with other production he’s replicated with the Oilers. That stretch saw him averaging 17:47 minutes of ice time, 14:37 of which came at 5v5, while laying 11.65 hits per hour in all situations.

In the 34 games since, however, he’s scored seven goals and 15 points—a full-season pace of 17 goals and 36 points. Kane’s ice time has dipped to 16:14 per night, 14:30 of which at 5v5. His physicality has also taken a dip over this stretch, with his hits per hour dropping to 9.67.

The Oilers continue a busy stretch of games into next week, visiting the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday, before hosting the LA Kings Thursday night, and the Anaheim Ducks next Saturday afternoon.

Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.