Evander Kane is not simply having shoulder surgery to force the Winnipeg Jets to move him.

So says Craig Oster of Newport Sports, who represents the Jets' winger and says Kane's left shoulder injury dates back to last season and has gotten progressively worse.

“This is simply a medical issue. Nothing more, nothing less. This is a player that needs to have surgery done and is doing it ,” Oster said in a telephone interview. “What people (are saying) and the speculation that I've seen, that it (surgery) has some extra meaning to it is ridiculous. A doctor is not doing surgery unless it's required.”

So Kane hasn't asked to be traded?

“That question has been asked a hundred different times. At the end of it, the answer always is, (Kane) is a Jet,” said Oster. “Until his contract runs out or until he's traded, he's a Winnipeg Jet. He's played a lot of games for the Jets. He's played hard, he's played through injury, he's played well and none of that is going to change.”

Jets head coach Paul Maurice announced on Friday morning that the normal recovery time for a shoulder injury like this one is four-to-six months.

“Knowing Evander, he will likely be back sooner than he should be or than most people would be,” said Oster, noting that Kane's shoulder popped out twice during last week's game against the Philadelphia Flyers, but he continued to play through the pain. “Evander's shoulder injury goes back to last season and it was evaluated in the summertime and they saw that there was damage to it, yet the decision was made – in consultation with the doctors – to try and rehab and see if he could play through it.

“Through the course of this season, the shoulder has got progressively worse and particularly, since December, there's been a number of episodes of it subluxing or coming out of the socket. Probably most recently, in the Philadelphia game last week, it came out twice during the course of the game. As well, he's had a number of different ailments that he's just played through, a couple of different fractures during the course of the year. We're at the point now, that after further consultation with Dr. MacDonald, that surgery is required.”

Oster said that Dr. Peter MacDonald, the Jets' team physician, would be the one handling the surgery and that it's expected to take place on Saturday.

Kane has come back early from injury on two different injuries this season, so why not continue to play through the pain?

“The damage has worsened,” said Oster. “The imaging they did showed progression in the tear that he has and with that progression, comes greater risk of more damage and greater risk of it not being repaired properly, if there is greater damage. Together, with the doctors, they felt that surgery is required.”

Oster would neither confirm or deny the stories about what happened in Vancouver this week that led to Kane being scratched as a coach's decision.

“All that's happened has been speculated. I don't know the facts. So, I have nothing to add,” said Oster. “I really don't know what, if anything, happened.”

Kane, who has 10 goals and 22 points in 37 games this season while averaging just under 20 minutes of ice time per game, is in the third year of a six-year contract worth $31.5 million but does not include a no-movement clause.