The Edmonton Oilers’ season came to a depressing close on Tuesday night, falling in six games to the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final. That being said, their 2024-25 NHL season may not fully be over when it comes to closing the book on another dramatic season.
On Wednesday afternoon, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reported that the NHL is continuing to examine the Oilers’ use of long-term injury reserve (LTIR) salary cap relief in regards to Evander Kane’s injury-riddled season.
Although the investigation is continuing, it’s yet to be crystal clear why the Oilers are the one team being investigated further combined with what a potential penalty may look like.
Here is all we know right now:
As it’s been widely reported, Kane underwent major surgery in September on both of his hip adductor muscles, as well as additional injuries to his abdominal muscles and two related hernias. It was a massive procedure that was projected to keep him out until late March. He then had an additional surgery on his knee in January of 2025, which further paused his recovery from his other major surgeries.
Evander Kane’s injury troubles
The timeline presented at that time would have kept him out of the lineup past the trade deadline, with the potential to return for the playoffs.
Kane was not cleared to play in Game 1 of the playoffs but was subsequently cleared to return to action for Game 2. Again, like many other teams, this raises some eyebrows, as a player can’t play in the regular season but is perfectly fine to return for the start of the playoffs. This is of course, something many teams have used to their advantage, with many going on to win the Stanley Cup as a result.
The Oilers did not use Kane’s LTIR space until right before the trade deadline, which could have been used much more effectively throughout the season or even in the summer.
Why is Edmonton being targeted?
The question now lingers: Why is Edmonton the one team being looked into further here? The Florida Panthers had Matthew Tkachuk on LTIR, allowing them to trade for Seth Jones, and they don’t seem to be under the same scrutiny. Tkachuk notably returned to score two goals in game one of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Tampa Bay Lightning famously flaunted their use of this system when Nikita Kucherov wore a t-shirt with ‘$18M over the cap’ printed on it.
It’s comical that the Oilers use an allowable, but grey area, tactic and somehow get punished more than other teams.
Our best guess takes us back to two key theories: Evander Kane spoke about his injury situation, or the timing of his second surgery raised too many eyebrows.
We will see where the investigation goes from here, but if the Oilers were to suffer any penalties, it would be laughable that they were the one team to get attacked while others reaped the benefits more.
Our beloved game is in control of American president, CEOs, we stacked all the leverages away for expansion and high salaries. Our game has lost integrity and honor.Bettman needs to go a Canadian that loves hockey needs to be president Bettman is a Business man who wants to keep expanding the league and have teams play in the finals that have a better narrative for ratings boosting interest in America.