Wow, if the Edmonton Oilers didn't have bad luck...
Today it was announced that Mike Green, who has been a member of the Edmonton Oilers for a whole almost week suffered an MCL sprain and would be sidelined for three to four weeks.
#Oilers defenceman Mike Green will be out of action for three to four weeks with a sprained MCL. pic.twitter.com/TIbpFKHqj2
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) February 28, 2020
It's almost impossible to not find some humour in the situation.
Over the past two weeks, here are the Oilers who have been injured or missed games:
Connor McDavid Kailer Yamamoto Zack Kassian Andreas Athanasiou Mike Green Oscar Klefbom James Neal Kris Russell
Bad news is that the Mike Green injury essentially keeps him out of the Oilers lineup until playoff time. The good news the team is starting to get some of these bodies back. Here were the lines at practice today.
Athanasiou-McDavid-Ennis RNH-Draisaitl-Yamamoto Archibald-Sheahan-Kassian Khaira-Haas-Chiasson Neal-Granlund-P. Russell
Nurse-Bear Jones-Larsson Lagesson-Benning K. Russell
Smith Koskinen
Dave Tippett has stated that both Kris Russell and Kailer Yamamoto will be game-time decisions while the Athanasiou injury was only a bruise and he will for sure be in the lineup. Neal and Klefbom are still unable to return to the lineup.
If Kris Russell is ready to play he will take Lagesson's spot. The young left shot defender is still adapting to the NHL but his game isn't helping the team much right now.
Klefbom being out for some time still hurts this team horribly as it forces Darnell Nurse to play way too many minutes but on Saturday we might for the first time since Holland made his moves see the true potential of the Oilers top 9.
In a limited amount of time the McDavid, Athanasiou, and Ennis trio has out-chanced the opposition and started to look like a cohesive unit. Having the couple days of practice should also be a massive boost to learning how each other play.
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Every team deals with injuries and the Oilers are no different. In the next week most of the key roster should be up and running and continue trying to improve their position in the standings.