Positive news on the Edmonton Oilers injury front

Since returning from the 4 Nations Face-Off, the Edmonton Oilers have had an injury-riddled stretch of games. Key players who have missed time include the likes of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Mattias Ekholm and Stuart Skinner, in addition to the long-term absences of Trent Frederic and Evander Kane.

Injury updates from Darren Dreger

On Insider Trading earlier today, Darren Dreger provided the following positive update:

“When you look at the Edmonton Oilers, it’s great to see that Connor McDavid continues to skate, and by all accounts from the Edmonton Oilers, McDavid looks good out there. But they’re not going to push him – they’re going to give him the time that he needs to fully recover.

The expectation is that McDavid should be back with at least a week before the end of the regular season. Stu[art] Skinner is feeling better—he’s probably a week away. Mattias Ekholm—the defenceman—he’s also about a week away.”

Good news for Edmonton

This is encouraging news for Oil Country. When McDavid suffered an injury partway through Edmonton’s game against the Winnipeg Jets on March 20, he was initially estimated to only be out of the lineup for about a week. His return date was slightly pushed back from original estimates, but the team seems confident that he will return with adequate time to get up and running before the playoffs commence.

Surprisingly, the Oilers are 6–4–0 without their captain, but that’s likely due to Leon Draisaitl being an absolute machine on both ends of the ice and the league’s most dominant forward this year.

On the back end, the Oilers desperately miss Ekholm’s defensive presence and proficiency. Since acquiring the Swedish defenceman from the Nashville Predators, the Oilers are 103–49–12 (0.665 points percentage) when he has dressed for a game and 6–6–0 (.500 points percentage) when he has been unavailable to play. Ekholm, who turns 35 years old in May, should only return to the regular season lineup when he is 100% healthy—the Oilers will not be able to win the Stanley Cup without him.

Finally, the much-maligned Stuart Skinner also looks to be returning soon after taking a knee to the head against the Dallas Stars on March 19. Although I’m sure many are eager to see what up-and-comer Olivier Rodrigue can do between the pipes if he gets a start before the end of the week, there’s no doubt that Skinner will be the man in between the pipes come opening night of the playoffs. One can only hope his time away has allowed him not only to recover physically but also to refocus and reset mentally.

Upcoming changes to the Oilers lineup

With Ekholm, McDavid, and Skinner all returning, the Oilers will need to adjust their lineup accordingly. Based on their performance so far, Max Jones is an easy scratch amongst the forwards.

On defence, it will be interesting to see whether Kris Knoblauch keeps Ty Emberson or Troy Stecher in the lineup when Ekholm is ready. Whoever he picks will almost certainly be the player who suits up on the third pairing for the opening night of the playoffs.

Finally, when Skinner is healthy, it’s likely that Rodrigue will be reassigned to the AHL in an effort to support the Bakersfield Condors’ own playoff push.

Having the big guns draw back into the lineup, along with the eventual return of Frederic (hopefully also before the end of the season) and Kane (likely sometime in Round 1), should give the Oilers a solid boost heading into the playoffs. Let’s hope it’s enough to take them all the way.