The Edmonton Oilers will start training camp without two prominent players on the ice.
Oilers GM Stan Bowman provided injury updates on both Evander Kane and Darnell Nurse on Wednesday as Edmonton's training camp opened up.
Nurse will miss the beginning of training camp as he continues to recover from an undisclosed injury. Bowman said he expects Nurse to be ready late in training camp and the team is taking a cautious approach with his injury.
The 29-year-old defenceman finished with 10 goals and 22 assists in 81 games for the Oilers last season. He added two goals and four assists in 25 playoff games.
Bowman also said that Kane is scheduled for surgery soon. Kane confirmed that he will undergo surgery in the next couple of days to repair both abductors, two hernias and two abdominal tears.
Kane told reporters Wednesday that he felt something wrong in late October, and things got worse in December and January.
The Oilers forward will certainly miss all of training camp and the beginning of the regular season. When asked if the surgery would cost him the whole season, Kane said "I certainly hope not."
"He's going to be out a while," Bowman added.
The Oilers GM also confirmed that Kane will not start the season on LTIR, but added the team may consider it if it needs the cap flexibility during the season.
According to PuckPedia, Edmonton has $946,000 in cap space as the 2024-25 season nears. That includes Kane’s $5.125-million AAV.
Kane, 33, played through the injury last season, though it eventually sidelined him in the Stanley Cup Final, where he missed five of seven games. He had 24 goals and 20 assists in 77 regular-season games before adding four goals and four assists in 20 playoff games.
The Oilers open the regular season on Oct. 9 against the Winnipeg Jets.
