Evander Kane is in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, awaiting the arrival of his Edmonton Oilers teammates in advance of their game against the Florida Panthers at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise on Saturday.
The forward arrived Wednesday by town car from Tampa, where he had surgery to repair his left wrist that was cut by a skate blade in Edmonton’s 3-2 win at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday.
Kane is expected to be out for 3-4 months. The Oilers lost 7-2 at the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Thursday.
“He’s in good spirits,” Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said. “He came through his procedure pretty well. Everybody seems to be in a good spot with where it’s at.”
Kane will travel back to Edmonton with the Oilers after the game Saturday.
“He’s stabilizing and he’s going to be around his teammates,” Woodcroft said. “Eventually he will fly home with us when we go back to Edmonton. He’s in a good space physically, he’s in a good space mentally. Now it’s just about making sure he takes the time to convalesce properly and get up to speed and let time take its course.”
Kane was placed on long-term injured reserve Wednesday, when he also tweeted that he’s “on the mend.”
Lightning forward Pat Maroon Accidentally skated over his wrist when Kane was on the ice following a collision with the Tampa Bay defenseman Philippe Myers.
“Thank you all for the kind wishes and prayers over the past several hours,” Kane tweeted. “Obviously last night was an extremely scary moment for me and I’m still in a little bit of shock. I would like to thank the entire training staff of the Edmonton Oilers and Tampa Bay Lightning, along with all the doctors and paramedics who rushed to help treat and repair my injury. Without all of you, I know things would’ve been much worse and I’m sincerely grateful. I won’t be back next game, but I will be back, and I look forward to being back on the ice playing the game I love alongside my teammates in front of our great fans.”
Kane has 13 points (five goals, eight assists) in 14 games this season. He signed a four-year, $20.5 million contract ($5.125 million average annual value) on July 13.
“He’s a top player in our league,” Woodcroft said. “He’s a well-respected teammate. He brings a lot to our team night in and night out.”
Edmonton recalled forwards Mattias Janmark and Klim Kostin from Bakersfield of the American Hockey League on Wednesday. Janmark played 10:52 against the Hurricanes in his Oilers debut. Kostin was a healthy scratch.
NHL.com independent correspondent Kurt Dusterberg contributed to this report
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