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March 26, 2023 by Ryan Lotsberg
Evander Kane was held out of the Edmonton Oilers lineup for their game against the Ottawa Senators on Sunday afternoon. Head coach Kris Knoblauch called it a maintenance day, but Kane’s expression during his pre-game interview on Tuesday said that he was not happy about being scratched.
This isn’t the first time that Kane has shown some frustration about his usage and his opportunity under Knoblauch. I’ll point your attention to the 1:05 mark in the Kane interview below where Ryan Rishaug asked him about what was working with the newly formed line of Kane, Leon Draisaitl, and Warren Foegele. Kane’s response: “Just getting opportunity”.
I can understand Kane’s frustration over his usage under Knoblauch. Kane played over nineteen minutes in six out of the thirteen games that Jay Woodcroft coached this season. He has only surpassed nineteen minutes of ice time five times in 54 games under Knoblauch. Just one of those instances has happened since the start of the Oilers’ sixteen game winning streak, which started on December 21, 2023. That was on February 21, 2024 against the Boston Bruins, a 6-5 loss in which Charlie McAvoy walked around a sliding Kane and tucked the puck in around Stuart Skinner for the game winner in overtime.
Part of the reason that Kane has gotten less ice time under Knoblauch is that he is not one of the forwards that Knoblauch has entrusted with a penalty killing role. Kane averaged 49 seconds per game on the penalty kill last season, but that is down to eighteen seconds per game this season.
Related: Oilers Penalty Killing Revival
Another reason for Kane’s limited ice time under Knoblauch could simply be injuries. Jason Gregor mentioned Kane’s nagging injuries in the interview with Kane on January 18, 2024 (video above). As mentioned at the top of this piece, Kane’s absence from Sunday’s game was called a maintenance day. Kane has only missed one other game this season, which was due to a groin issue on December 30, 2023 against the Los Angeles Kings.
Opportunity is certainly a factor though. The line of Draisaitl, Foegele, and Ryan McLeod was first formed during the first game of the sixteen game winning streak on December 21, 2023. The team kept winning with that line intact, and that line was doing most of the damage for the Oilers. That trio was broken up on January 13, 2024 because McLeod missed the game against the Montreal Canadiens due to illness. Kane was elevated to McLeod’s spot, and the line combined for a goal.
Kane has spent a lot of time on the third line under Knoblauch. Why hasn’t Kane gotten more of an opportunity under Knoblauch? One could argue that he has been a victim of circumstance with the McLeod-Draisaitl-Foegele line working so well together. The simpler answer is that Kane’s production hasn’t been where it needs to be.
Kane has 21 goals this season, which is good; but it’s not up to his standard. Fourteen of those goals were scored in his first 33 games, all of which took place in 2023. He has only scored seven goals in the 34 games he has appeared in since the calendar turned to 2024. In fact, he has only scored in four of those 34 games. He got a hat trick against the Anaheim Ducks on February 9, 2024, and he got two goals against the Arizona Coyotes on February 19, 2024; but he has only scored in two other games aside from those big nights.
He only got two points (both goals) in twelve games during a month-long stretch from December 12, 2023 to January 11, 2024. Kane went fifteen games without recording an assist between January 25, 2024 and March 3, 2024. He has had two pointless stretches of five or more games this season.
It’s hard to produce offence when you’re playing on the third line with players that notoriously have trouble producing offence, but it’s also hard to justify moving a player up the lineup if he isn’t producing offence.
This is a list of the forwards that Kane has spent the most time with at five-on-five this season:
| Draisaitl | 362:12 |
| Nugent-Hopkins | 244:03 |
| Brown | 225:13 |
| Hyman | 189:31 |
| Foegele | 159 |
| McDavid | 145:04 |
| Janmark | 135:16 |
| McLeod | 120:22 |
| Ryan | 98:52 |
Four of the six players that Kane has skated with the most this season are core fixtures in the top six. All of Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Zach Hyman, and Connor McDavid have better goal shares and expected goals percentages away from Kane than with him. Kane hasn’t sewered any of their goal metrics while playing with them, but none of those players are better with Kane on their line.
Being stuck with Connor Brown for 225:13 is a fair complaint given the fact that Brown only recently finally got onto the scoreboard this season. They have been outscored 4-11 at five-on-five, and their expected goals percentage is 44.11%. That pairing should never have been together as long as they were. However, the pair spent 94:30 of that time with Leon Draisaitl as their centre, so it isn’t as if Kane’s being stuck with Brown was always a case of being buried down the lineup. Similarly, 73:19 of Kane and Foegele’s time together has been with Draisaitl as the centre. A significant chunk of Kane’s time with Brown and Foegele has come while playing in the top six.
The addition of Adam Henrique has only made competition for ice time tougher. Henrique can play anywhere in the lineup, but has mostly been on the third line thus far. Knoblauch has had the lines in a blender ever since the trade deadline additions were made. Nothing has quite worked as nicely as he would like, and the coach is taking the opportunity to experiment with line combinations before the playoff start, which is fine. Interestingly enough, Henrique has played more with Kane than any other forward thus far (61:43), which has been on the third line.
Related: Oilers Acquire Henrique and Carrick
Kane’s role on the team has certainly been reduced under Knoblauch, but Kane’s performance hasn’t warranted having a bigger role. Both statements are fair.
The reality is that Kane is 32 years old, which is around the time most players begin to decline. His points per game totals have decreased every year he’s been an Oiler (although his 39 points in 67 games is really not all that bad, all things considered).
Injuries have been an issue for Kane over the course of the last two seasons. The horrific wrist injury and a rib injury held Kane to 41 games last season. He has apparently been dealing with nagging injuries for most of this season. Perhaps wear and tear are starting to take their toll on Kane.
We also have to remember that accountability was one of the big reasons that the coaching change was made earlier this season. CEO Jeff Jackson praised Knoblauch’s accountability based on what he had seen of Knoblauch with the Eerie Otters. Knoblauch lowering Kane’s ice time and holding him out of the lineup is a sign of that accountability that Jackson talked about. Knoblauch has handled Brown similarly. Brown has been healthy scratched multiple times this season, and his role has been reduced significantly. Knoblauch’s handling of Kane and Brown, two prized free agent signings, is evidence of increased accountability on the team.
My worry with Kane is about how his attitude will hold up. The frustration was clearly visible on his face during today’s media availability. He should be frustrated about being scratched and getting less ice time, but he should be motivated to play better as a result. Aside from scoring, Kane brings value by dragging players into the fight. I haven’t seen much of that lately, but that’s a way for him to get himself more engaged. The Oilers will need that in the playoffs, not the frustrated and underperforming version of Kane that we’re seeing right now.
