The Edmonton Oilers revealed that both Zach Hyman and Viktor Arvidsson will miss more time, but not enough to be completely bad news.
The Edmonton Oilers revealed that Zach Hyman and Viktor Arvidsson are still out of action with injuries. Neither took part in the team’s practice on Monday, and head coach Kris Knoblauch confirmed both forwards would be out another five to eight days. Realistically, this is both good and bad news.
The good news is that neither injury sounds incredibly serious. If these were long-term issues, the Oilers would have a problem as both wingers are part of the team’s top six and are needed to provide scoring for a team that hasn’t scored a ton of goals to start the season. The bad news is that both will likely miss Friday’s game versus the Utah Hockey Club and neither was expected to miss much time when news of their injuries were first revealed.
When Arvidsson was initially sidelined, Knoblauch described the issue as minor, expecting the newly signed winger to miss only a few days. It was pegged as “day-to-day”. However, Arvidsson has now been out since November 12, missing several games and surpassing the three-week mark. This extended absence is far from a positive sign.
Hyman’s injury might be even more troublesome. He took a strange hit and left the game in the second period of a game on November 19. He didn’t return for the third period, but it didn’t look like much. That he’s not played since and that five-day rest between games is still not enough to get him back in the lineup for Friday’s action is worrisome. This is a player who scored 54 goals for Edmonton last season. He’s ridiculously important to their overall offense, including their struggling power play.
Oilers Hoping This Rest is All Hyman and Arvidsson Need
The hope here is that these few days come at an ideal time and that this is all both players need to get back to nearly 100 percent. Anything longer and the Oilers might have to start making plans to replace their production.
Typically, around the American Thanksgiving break for the NHL, teams that aren’t in the playoff mix, remain out of the playoff mix. The Oilers are on the bubble but injuries could derail their aspirations in a hurry. Most insiders know the Oilers need to address their defense. It would be problematic if they also needed to find additional help up front.
