EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) 鈥� 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.
鈥淗e is going be out for a while, but I can鈥檛 speculate on that,鈥� 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
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.
鈥淗e鈥檚 had a great career, so far,鈥� Bowman said. 鈥淲e think he鈥檇 be a nice addition to the camp. It鈥檚 a competitive environment and he鈥檚 a veteran. He鈥檚 been a pretty consistent offensive player throughout his career. We鈥檙e going to take a look at him and see how he fits in with our mix.鈥�
Defenseman Darnell Nurse is being held out of the early portion of camp as he recovers from injuries.
鈥淚f anything, we want to be cautious with it,鈥� Bowman said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 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.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 look back at last year and expect that to happen again this year,鈥� Skinner said. 鈥淥bviously, 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.鈥�
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The Associated Press
