Oilers Notes: Kane, Broberg, Defense Options

The Oilers suffered a big loss back in early November when Evander Kane had his wrist cut by a skate, resulting in emergency surgery that carried an expected recovery timeline of up to four months.  Instead, as Kurt Leavins of the Edmonton Journal notes, the veteran appears to be well ahead of schedule, speculating that he could be back by the end of this month.  Kane is in his first full season with Edmonton and had gotten off to a strong start prior to the injury, picking up 13 points in 14 games while chipping in with 51 hits.  His eventual return will certainly add another gear to their attack and while it would force some cap-shedding moves to activate him from LTIR, it would also allow GM Ken Holland to have a bit more time to evaluate his top six group before the trade deadline to help determine if any moves need to be made on that front.

More from Edmonton:

• While many expect Edmonton to make a move to add a left-shot defenseman before the trade deadline, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported in the latest 32 Thoughts segment (video link) that they plan to give prospect Philip Broberg an extended look first. The 21-year-old has spent a good chunk of the season with the Oilers with his only AHL time being a six-week stretch early in the year (which he was injured for part of).  Broberg, the eighth-overall pick in 2019, has two assists in 15 games with Edmonton this season but is averaging just over 12 minutes a game.  Ideally, he’s able to step up and lessen their need for help from outside the organization so it makes sense that they’ll try to give him a stretch of games first before pondering a move.
• If and when Edmonton does look elsewhere for a left defender, Arizona defenseman Jakob Chychrun has been a speculative candidate for a while. Sportsnet’s Mark Spector and Adam Vingan examine how the 24-year-old might fit with the team, noting that while, on paper, adding the top blueliner available makes plenty of sense in theory, he might not be the best fit for Edmonton.  Instead, one scout posits that a more physical stay-at-home defender such as Montreal’s Joel Edmundson or Vancouver’s Luke Schenn might be the better type of player to try to acquire.