2 Oilers Are Close To Returning From Injuries

The Edmonton Oilers have been a little banged up. While some players have returned, others have gotten injured. At this time, the Oilers are operating without Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jake Walman, Noah Philp, Kasperi Kapanen, and Curtis Lazar.

Of the five that are injured, Bob Stauffer reported that Nugent-Hopkins and Kapanen (LTIR) were on the ice for practice on Nov. 24, the day before the Oilers face the Dallas Stars in the lone Tuesday night game.

The Oilers have played 24 games this season, but Nugent-Hopkins has now missed eight of those games. He scored five goals and 16 points in 16 games before going out, so the Oilers desperately need his offense if they are going to outscore their goalie problems. In the last two games which the goalies have actually played well, the offense was shut down.

Nugent-Hopkins' return would create some great depth down the middle as wingers like Matthew Savoie, Jack Roslovic, and Vasily Podkolzin have found spots in the top-6. It would also allow the Oilers to have a scoring threat when Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl aren't on the ice.

Kapanen has only played six games this season as he was injured early on. The 29-year-old recorded just two assists, but wasn't playing poorly. He is a guy who brings energy and someone the Oilers would want back in their bottom-6, likely on the fourth line.

Some decisions are going to have to be made if both Nugent-Hopkins and Kapanen return at the same time. I'd expect someone to be moved to LTIR if that's possible and they aren't expected to return before. If not, Connor Clattenburg, who was recalled ahead of the Oilers' previous game, will be returned to the minors. After that, it would be between waiving Lazar or David Tomasek. We'll have to wait and see how everything plays out.