As 2024 turns to 2025 and the clock ticks towards the March 7th trade deadline, the Oilers brass met in Boston Wednesday for the latest round of professional scouting meetings.
It was after those that Sportsnet’s Mark Spector spoke with Oilers general manager Stan Bowman, where he spoke about a multitude of things, including the status of winger Evander Kane.
Kane had surgery to repair multiple abdominal injuries in September, and timetables then had him out of the lineup until January or February, but that timeline got pushed back in December, with Bob Stauffer saying a return likely wouldn’t be until March “at the absolute earliest.”
Bowman, meanwhile, wasn’t able to provide much of an update when asked by Spector.
“I don’t have any new update right now,” he said. “Evander has been doing his rehab, but as far as his timeline and all that, I don’t have anything new to share.
“We’ll need clarity on that for sure, when he’s available and all that stuff. It can impact how much cap space we have. They do go hand in hand and we should be getting an update very soon.”
Kane remaining on the Long-Term Injured Reserve through the remainder of the regular season would afford the Oilers the chance to use nearly all of his salary to exceed the NHL’s salary cap. It would be $5.125-million that would open up, on top of the cap space accrued throughout the regular season.
When it comes to shopping in the trade market, anyone looking at the roster can see the spots Bowman will need to address. The Oilers need a second-pairing, right-shot defenceman, and especially if Kane is out until the playoffs, another depth addition or two to the forward ranks wouldn’t hurt, either.
Complementary pieces are what the team will be looking for, Bowman said.
“It is a challenge, but it’s something that I actually enjoy, putting the pieces together in a different way but keeping the key pieces in place that are critical to your team success,” he said. “(At the just completed meetings) we’re discussing who else could we add to the mix that could be complementary players. I embrace the challenge and try to find players. It’s exciting to see when it starts to come together.”
The Oilers have been loosely linked to a few defencemen including the likes of the Columbus Blue Jackets’ Ivan Provorov, while other names like the Philadelphia Flyers’ Rasmus Ristolainen have popped up, too.
More names are on the market, too, with four New York Rangers defencemen arriving on Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli’s latest trade targets list, and even Buffalo Sabres defenceman Bowen Byram.
Needless to say, the Oilers will have options when it comes to improving their roster by the time the deadline rolls around.
Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, and senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter, currently known as X, at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.
