Western Conference champion Edmonton Oilers open camp with high expectations
FILE - Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl (29) skates on the ice during the third period of Game 7 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers, June 24, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — The Edmonton Oilers opened camp Wednesday with the news that veteran forward Evander Kane will miss the start of the upcoming season because of surgery needed for hernias, abdominal tears and other injuries.
New general manager Stan Bowman confirmed surgery was necessary for Kane, who had 44 points in 77 games during the last regular season while playing through injuries, then was less effective as the playoffs went on. He had four goals and four assists in 20 games before getting scratched in the Stanley Cup Final, a point at which the Oilers missed his grit and skill on the power play and penalty kill.
“He is going be out for a while, but I can’t speculate on that,” he said.
After losing Game 7 to Florida in that final, expectations are high for the Oilers, who return the core of a team led by stars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
The addition of veteran forwards Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner should help provide more offensive punch even with Kane sidelined. The Oilers are also looking at Mike Hoffman on a tryout contract. He had just 10 goals last season for the San Jose Sharks, but has 487 career points in 745 NHL games.
“He’s had a great career, so far,” Bowman said. “We think he’d be a nice addition to the camp. It’s a competitive environment and he’s a veteran. He’s been a pretty consistent offensive player throughout his career. We’re going to take a look at him and see how he fits in with our mix.”
Defenseman Darnell Nurse is being held out of the early portion of camp as he recovers from injuries.
“If anything, we want to be cautious with it,” Bowman said. “He’s a very important player for us, he plays a lot of minutes.”
Goaltender Stuart Skinner acknowledged the expectations for the Oilers and the painful, 2-1 loss to the Panthers in the final game of last season.
“You can’t look back at last year and expect that to happen again this year,” Skinner said. “Obviously, we have expectations of how we want to perform. That was last year. This year is a completely different year. We have a different team. Every team in the NHL is a different team. Obviously, we want to do a little bit better than we did last year.”
___
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl