It's been an open secret around the NHL that the Oilers wouldn't get Evander Kane back from injury anytime soon.

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But circumstances may have changed.

Insider Kevin Weekes reported on Thursday that Evander Kane should return from injury in "early 2025".

Kane underwent surgery to repair two hernias, two abdominal tears, and both abductors on September 20th. The initial prognosis was a recovery time of five to six months, which would essentially hold Kane out for the entirety of the regular season. But with Weekes' report, it looks like he could be back much, much sooner.

Is that a good thing?

On its face, yes. One hopes the Oilers' scoring woes will be behind them come early 2025, but it never hurts to add a proven 30-goal scorer to your lineup. A left wing depth chart of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jeff Skinner, Kane, Vasily Podkolzin, and Mattias Janmark would be one of the very best in the league.

His presence would also allow the Oilers more flexibility with their top-nine forwards. They've shown plenty of flexibility already this season, but that would look a lot better with Kane replacing Podkolzin.

However, there's a big problem with Kane's potential early return: the Oilers just can't afford it. Part of the reason Kane wasn't expected to return during the regular season is that the Oilers told us so.

Not explicitly, but they placed Kane's $5,125,000 cap hit on Long-Term Injured Reserve while calling up Matt Savoie and Cam Wright on opening day to ensure they could get the most out of that LTIR pool. The Oilers didn't plan for Kane to be back any time soon.

With just under $1.5 million in cap space right now and a projected $4.8 million available at the trade deadline in March, the Oilers can't welcome Kane back without making a corresponding move to clear cap space, thereby weakening the team. Even if they do that, they won't have any room to acquire an upgrade on defence, or anywhere else one might be required.

That's a pretty big commitment to make for a 33-year-old winger coming off a career-worst year and major core surgery. It wouldn't surprise me at all if we still don't see Kane hit the ice during the regular season if the Oilers can swing it. April is still "early 2025", right?

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