Report: Oilers’ Ekholm out ‘quite some time,’ could miss rest of season

It appears that the Edmonton Oilers‘ blueline could be in significant trouble at the worst possible time.

After leaving Friday’s 4-2 win over the San Jose Sharks with an undisclosed injury, TSN’s Ryan Rishaug reported that the injury may be more serious than first thought, indicating that the best case scenario is seeing him miss “quite some time”, while the worst case scenario will see him miss the rest of the season.

Ekholm had played just 1:52 of ice time in Friday’s win and fell down a couple of times during play before he left the game. It was his first game returning from a previous undisclosed injury that kept him out of the lineup for seven games. While the previous and current injuries are both undisclosed, considering how quickly Ekholm was hurt again after returning, there’s a strong chance that it’s the same injury.

With just three games left on the Oilers’ regular season schedule, there’s a strong chance that even the best case scenario for Ekholm’s injury will see him miss the first round of the playoffs. With another matchup against the Los Angeles Kings almost set in stone, it may not bode well for a struggling Oilers’ squad without their best defensive defenseman.

Ekholm finishes the regular season with 9 goals and 24 assists for 33 points in 65 games.

Ekholm joins a growing pile of injured blueliners for the Oilers, as Jake Walman, John Klingberg, and Alec Regula are also dealing with injuries at this point in time. Cam Dineen was the lone blueliner that was a healthy scratch on Friday, so it’s likely that he draws into the lineup should no one else get healthy.

The Oilers currently sit in third in the Pacific Division with a 46-28-5 record. Edmonton will look to navigate all of their injuries and get into form for the playoffs when they visit the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday at 5 p.m. MST.