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Evander Kane is battling his hardest to come back from injury to play in the playoffs, and Monday at practice he seemed to take an extra step with his best efforts on the ice this year.
Kane has been rehabbing from multiple injuries and multiple surgeries. His timeline for a return has been indefinite all season, and only confirmed to be at some point in the playoffs at the trade deadline.
Evander Kane takes a major step and impresses Oilers reporters at practice
While Kane has been skating in Edmonton and joining Oilers practice for quite a while now, Monday was the first day where Kane appeared to have some explosion in his stride. It's a very encouraging sign that a return early in the playoffs, now only 12 games away, could be possible.
Prior to Monday, Oilers reporters have played down Kane's skating and ramping back up to full speed, but he had never reached consecutive days in practice looking good. His skating Monday looks much closer to game shape.
In the past few weeks, the Oilers have tempered expectations that Kane could return early on in the playoffs. Instead, Stan Bowman has suggested the Oilers will need to keep playing to have a chance for Kane to return.
"I think he's going to be back in the playoffs. Certainly if we can continue our game and have some success, he's going to play. Whether he can be ready for the beginning of the playoffs, we're not sure. We're motivated to keep playing for a lot of reasons, but one of them is to get Evander back in the lineup."- Stan Bowman
Kane clearly doesn't want to miss a single second of the playoffs after already missing the entire season. It's incredibly encouraging to see him ramp up this much now, perhaps pushing for a return as early as Game 1 in the first round.
The Oilers forward group will be much stronger in the playoffs with the additions of Evander Kane and Trent Frederic, two bruising power forwards who can contribute some secondary scoring. Getting Kane fully healthy and into the lineup as soon as possible will be a key to their success.
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Commanders fans receive hopeful Terry McLaurin update
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Falcons HC speaks out after offensive starter gets carted off practice field with concerning injury
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