How Good are the Edmonton Oilers?

OILERS GETTING HEALTHY…

The Oilers’ injury woes forced them to place John Klingberg on retroactive LTIR last night, just so Noah Philp could play.

Philp was an emergency recall after the Oilers played with 17 skaters in Anaheim. He was recalled as an emergency player to replace one of the players who DIDN’T play that game. Connor McDavid didn’t play in Anaheim, so when he came in the lineup last night, it meant the Oilers technically had 12 healthy forwards, if you include the 11 who played in Anaheim. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was sick last night and couldn’t play, but because he played in Anaheim, Philp couldn’t replace him as an emergency player. Odd ruling.

So, the Oilers had to put Klingberg on LTIR to give them the cap space to add Philp to the roster. Luckily for EDM Klingberg could be put on retroactive LTIR, since his last GP was game No. 72, meaning he has the 10 games needed to qualify to be on LTIR.

Jake Walman has a minor injury. He might play tomorrow, and if not, he won’t miss much time according to Kris Knoblauch. If he can’t play tomorrow the Oilers do have the cap space to recall a D-man if needed.

Leon Draisaitl will take the morning skate tomorrow and he will speak to the media after the skate to give an update on his status. He is close to returning, we just won’t know for sure if it is tomorrow or in one of the next two games.

Mattias Ekholm isn’t scheduled to play tomorrow, but Stuart Skinner will dress.

The Oilers are slowly getting healthier, and if those guys can get in one or two games before the playoffs, they should be fine. Edmonton is being very cautious with guys right now. It is why Walman sat out. He wasn’t feeling 100% so they opted to rest him last night, rather than risk making his injury worse. McDavid was a late decision due to him seeing the doctor after the morning skate. The doctor has to sign off on him playing. Even if McDavid wants to play, he needs the green light from the doctor. He got it yesterday and that allowed him to play. Of course, there is always a risk when returning from injury that you can re-aggravate the ailment that kept you out (hello, Trent Frederic). You will never 100% know how a player will respond when returning from injury, and that is the biggest wildcard surrounding the Oilers.

No one knows for sure how comfortable and effective McDavid, Draisaitl, Ekholm, Skinner, Frederic and Kane will be when they return. And that’s why it is difficult to project how many rounds Edmonton will win in the playoffs.

If most of those guys are healthy and aren’t hindered, I view Edmonton as a legit Cup contender. They have more forward depth than last year, and I like their top-six defenders better.

McDavid got better as the game went on last night. He blew by a few Blues defenders in the third period, and he finished with three assists. He admitted after the game it is difficult coming back, as much mentally as physically.

“Took a little bit to get into it, but, overall, I thought it was a good one,” said McDavid. “Obviously, coming back from injury sucks mentally, for any athlete, but especially in hockey, because it so unpredictable. There are so many variables, things that you can’t account for. So, yeah, it was nice to, to get that out of the way, mentally.”

He also spoke about the process of knowing if you are ready to return.

“There’s not many practices this time of year. I’ve been skating by myself. I don’t know how many more tight turns I can do. Eventually, you just got to go,” he said.

He did and he looked great, and the mental hurdle of attacking the opposition, going into high-traffic areas and battling is the hardest thing for some players. McDavid is best when he plays full throttle with no hesitation, but it isn’t easy to just jump back in a game and play with his usual reckless abandon.

Ekholm, Draisaitl and Skinner will need to overcome the same challenge. It will be different for each of them as they have different injuries, but once they get passed the mental hurdle, they will have more success.

Edmonton has tightened up defensively lately. The Oilers have reduced the high-danger chances off the rush at 5×5 as well as odd-man chances against. They will never completely eliminate them, but in the past month, they’ve been in the top 10 in both categories after ranking 30th and 25th from January 1st into early March.

Viktor Arvidsson has found his offensive touch with six goals in 12 games. Jeff Skinner and Zach Hyman each have five goals in the last 12 games. Adam Henrique has 3-3-6. Evan Bouchard has 11 assists, while Darnell Nurse has eight. They produced without McDavid and Draisaitl in the lineup, so when they return the offence, in theory, should be more balanced.

I can’t say with certainty how good the Oilers are, because we don’t know how the players will look returning from injury, but if they return to form, those key players will be rested and that makes Edmonton a legitimate threat in my eyes. I like their roster better than LA’s. Vegas, Dallas, Colorado and Winnipeg are good, but I don’t see them as noticeably better than Edmonton. Jack Eichel is banged up in Vegas. Miro Heiskanen’s return date in Dallas is up in the air. Gabe Vilardi is still out for Winnipeg. Nathan MacKinnon is out tonight. He has a minor injury. Josh Manson and Ryan Lindgren are also injured. Manson is expected to return on the weekend, while Lindgren’s status is unknown. Injuries are a factor everywhere in the West.

If the Oilers get healthy and remain healthy, I expect them to win at least a few rounds.

What about you?