‘It will be a little strange’: Kane talks facing ex-Oilers teammates in Canucks’ final pre-season game

Friday night will be a reunion of sorts for Evander Kane.

Kane and his new Canucks teammates are set to face his former team, the Edmonton Oilers, in their preseason finale. Kane is 34 and coming off a 2024-25 where he missed the entire regular season recovering from knee surgery, but returned to play in Edmonton’s second straight run to the Stanley Cup Final.

The last time he was on the ice with these Oilers, he was being tossed from Game 6 of the Final with a game misconduct. But the preseason meeting won’t be the same as meeting them next Saturday, with two points up for grabs.

“I think it’s preseason, so it’s a lot more tame,” Kane said to reporters after Friday’s morning skate at Rogers Arena. “I’m sure it will be a little strange when I get on the ice for warmup for sure.”

Both teams will be icing their expected opening night rosters, save for a few final tryouts for roster spots. In the morning skate, Kane was paired on a line with Braeden Cootes and Jonathan Lekkerimäki, two young players looking to put a stamp on their names in the opening night roster. But Kane isn’t approaching it where he’s “got to help them through the game”.

“I played with them the game here [against Seattle] last week. I thought we got better as it went on, and I know they’ve had a couple of games since,” Kane said.

“I’m looking forward to playing with them tonight against an NHL roster.”

Kane’s noted the progress in particular of his centre, the 18-year-old Cootes. “He’s just continuing to get better and more comfortable on the ice, and I think it’ll be interesting to see how he continues to develop,” Kane said.

This will be Kane’s second and final preseason game before the regular season kicks off on Wednesday. His head coach, Adam Foote, said Thursday that he would’ve liked to get Kane in more than just two exhibition matchups. But he also felt the veteran knows what to do to be ready for the regular season, a sentiment Kane agrees with.

“I can go with zero,” Kane said. “But I think two is a great number, and no matter how many you play, you still have another week until the regular season starts. So there’s lots of preparation, and tonight it will be good to get in the lineup.”