NHL insider Elliotte Friedman recently spoke about the return date of Oilers' Evander Kane, and his words left a lot of fans a little concerned. Despite an ice-cold start to the 2024/25 season, <a href='https://oilersnation.com/news/instant-reaction-all-it-took-was-one-as-oilers-shutout-kings' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>the Edmonton Oilers have turned things around in recent times</a>, and with such a well-rounded roster, optimism is high that this team can get back to the Stanley Cup Finals this season. Beyond the strong cast of players, <a href='https://www.hockeylatest.com/nhl-team/edmonton-oilers/oilers-evander-kane-underwent-surgery-and-the-team-released-a-timeline-update' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>they'll be getting a major boost at some point in the next few months</a> with the return of Evander Kane, who was initially supposed to return between January and February. <div align='center' class='pl20 pr20'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/TonyBrarOTV/status/1877799815754756536'> </a></blockquote></div> One of the top NHL Insiders around the game in <a href='https://x.com/FriedgeHNIC' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Elliotte Friedman</a> has the latest update on Kane, who underwent several major surgeries over the course of the summer as he attempted to get back to 100% ahead of what could be a historic Stanley Cup run. The Oilers are definitely hoping for a healthy <a href='https://www.nhl.com/oilers/player/evander-kane-8475169' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Kane</a> as they attempt to avoid another heartbreak Stanley Cup Finals defeat. <h3>Elliotte Friedman reveals Evander Kane's return has been delayed</h3> While Friedman didn't make an exact prediction, he did reveal that several teams around the league are expecting Kane's return to come closer to the end of the regular season than what the initial timeline revealed, which would have seen him back in the next month. I don't think that this schedule has really surprised a lot of people, but the overall tone of it is has been the Oilers are more than prepared to be patient, and the player wants to get back out there as much as he possibly as quickly as he possibly can. A couple teams were saying to me, you can start to see the map working out later and later and closer and closer to April 19, which is when the playoffs begin. Now, I'm not saying that we're going to get there, because I think it's too soon. - Elliotte Friedman <div align='center' class='pl20 pr20'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/nielsonTSN1260/status/1878807462721044530'> </a></blockquote></div> So there has definitely been a delay. Whether Kane returns with a month or less to play before the Stanley Cup Playoffs, he's a veteran who will hit the ice skating very hard upon his return. If the team around him is clicking, this could be a very dangerous team that will make a deep run.