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Oilers Could Lose Top Defenseman For Playoffs

The injuries just keep coming for the Edmonton Oilers.

Jon Alfano

Edmonton Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm passes the puck against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Edmonton Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm passes the puck against the Philadelphia Flyers. / Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
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When it rains, it pours for the Edmonton Oilers.

The Oilers clinched a playoff berth for the sixth-straight season with Friday's 4-2 win over the San Jose Sharks, but it was hardly a perfect night. In his first game back after missing more than two weeks with injury, star defenseman Mattias Ekholm left after just his second shift and logged just 1:52 of ice time.

Head coach Kris Knoblauch didn't have much of an update on Ekholm after the game, but hinted that he may not be back for the postseason. Unfortunately, it looks like the worst-case scenario has come true.

According to TSN's Ryan Rishaug, further testing revealed what's believed to be a serious injury for Ekholm, and his season could very well be over.

Ekholm, 34, has now relapsed his injury twice in just over a month. he initially suffered the injury on March 4 against the Anaheim Ducks, missed two weeks, came back for four games, then missed another two weeks. Now, that injury likely marks the end of his season.

The worst part? Ekholm's not the only Oiler this has happened to.

Leon Draisaitl, the team's leading scorer with 106 points (52 goals, 54 assists), returned for three games before re-aggravating his injury against the Sharks on April 3. Trent Frederic, who Edmonton acquired from the Boston Bruins in early March, made his Oilers debut on April 5 against the Los Angeles Kings, only to leave after logging just 7:10 of ice time.

“I think we’ve been fortunate in the past with our injuries, now our luck has run out,” Knoblauch said Friday, per the Edmonton Journal. "Just some freak accidents, feeling those players were ready to return and it’s unfortunate circumstances. That can always happen, and right now it just seems like it’s happening to us.”

Others, including Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jake Walman, are still out due to injury.

Needless to say, the Oilers' injury luck has been quite terrible lately.

The Oilers are looking to avenge their loss in last year's Stanley Cup Final, but with the sheer number of injuries they have, doing so will be quite difficult.

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Jon Alfano
JON ALFANO

Jon is a lead writer for Baltimore Ravens On SI and contributes to other sites around the network as well. The Tampa native previously worked with sites such as ClutchPoints and GiveMeSport and earned his journalism degree at the University of Central Florida.

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