Even after Stanley Cup is handed out, NHL continues investigation into Oilers’ usage of LTIR with Evander Kane

The National Hockey League’s investigation into the Edmonton Oilers’ usage of LTIR cap relief for Evander Kane continues.

Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reported Wednesday night that while the Oilers have cooperated with their investigation, fulfilling all the NHL’s requests for information and medical opinions, the league is deliberating their next steps.

“There is the potential for retroactive punishment if the league finds the spirit of the CBA was violated,” Seravalli reported.

The 33-year-old Kane landed on the Long Term Injured Reserve ahead of the regular season after undergoing surgery in September to repair two torn hip adductor muscles, two hernias and two lower abdominal muscle tears. Kane was expected to remain on the shelf due as he recovered into late March, but that timeline changed when the winger underwent knee surgery on January 9th.

According to Seravalli, the procedure was to remove a congenital tumour-like growth in his knee. It was to pause his rehabilitation from his prior surgery for seven to eight weeks, and Kane began to practice with the Oilers after the 4-Nations Face-Off. While he didn’t play in Game 1 of the playoffs against the Los Angeles Kings, Kane dressed for Game 2, playing in the remaining 21 games the Oilers had in the playoffs, scoring six goals and 12 points.

Placing a player on the LTIR removes the player’s cap hit from that club’s books, allowing the team to exceed the salary cap. But when the player is able to return — if it’s in the regular season — the team needs to be able to be cap compliant.

The Oilers, as Seravalli highlighted, had many opportunities to use the full amount of Kane’s $5.125-million cap hit.

GM Stan Bowman could have used that space to match the St. Louis Blues’ offer sheets for Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg last August, or to trade for their replacements. In fact, when Edmonton traded for Trent Frederic in a three-team deal on March 4, they paid for the New Jersey Devils and Boston Bruins to each retain half on Frederic’s deal, which would have allowed them enough cap space to still activate Kane in the regular season. It wasn’t until they announced the Kane would be unable to return and traded for defenseman Jake Walman that they used up the space created by Kane on LTIR.

And while the Oilers await further news, Seravalli reported, “It remains unclear what exactly the NHL may have found issue with as they continue to examine the circumstances.”

Earlier in the playoffs, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported the Oilers and Kane had been scrutinized by the league about the LTIR usage, so much so that he believes one of the reasons the winger missed Game 1 against the Kings was because of their questions.

Kane has one year left on a contract paying him $ 5.125 million and has a modified no-trade clause giving him a 16-team approved trade list, according to PuckPedia. Friedman reported Wednesday that there’s a belief that there could be “a market” for Kane if the Oilers look to trade the winger.