Some clarity around the Edmonton Oilers came forth Wednesday morning, with Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli opining the team may not spend the Long-Term Injured Reserve pool money it has with Evander Kane injured.
Kane has spent the 2024-25 season on the LTIR rehabilitating from abdominal surgery he underwent in September and a knee surgery he had in January. With Kane on the shelf, the Oilers had been able to exceed the NHL’s salary cap by up to $5.124-million, but have to have that money available to activate him if he returns in the regular season.
That’s been the centre of many discussions this week, with indications that Kane wants to play regular season games ahead of the playoffs, making the Oilers’ deadline plans murky.
Seravalli’s thoughts came on Wednesday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE when asked by host Tyler Yaremchuk if the team is looking to make a splash, further indicating a defenceman is likely target.
I don’t see it. I still am in the camp that I don’t think the Oilers, for all the reasons we’ve talked about over the last few weeks, are going to be a team that spends Evander Kane’s money. And beyond that, I don’t know that the market has really set itself up for a really good fit for Edmonton. Will they go out and get a defenceman? Yeah, they probably will. Will it be a big splash? I caution against that and they’re also limited in terms of cap.
Kane is in the third year of a four-year deal paying him $5.125-million and saw a no movement clause turn into a 16-team approved trade list, which he submitted to the team last Friday. The Oilers, meanwhile, have been active in the trade market calling teams on that list to see if there’s a fit for Kane, with the team potentially looking to clear up cap space.
The Oilers already made a move on Tuesday, picking up forwards Trent Frederic and Max Jones from the Boston Bruins seeing them send a 2025 2nd round pick, 2025 fourth round pick, as well as prospect Max Wanner and Shane Lachance in order to facilitate Frederic arriving with his salary retained twice. The Bruins retained 50 percent, and the New Jersey Devils another 50 percent, brining Frederic’s cap hit down to $575,000.
You can listen to Daily Faceoff LIVE below.
Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, 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.laing@bettercollective.com.
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