Breaking Down the Wounded Oilers

While the Oilers 3-8-2 record isn’t great, a big part of the reason the team is struggling is because it hasn’t had the chance to ice a healthy roster once this season. From cheap shots to freak injuries, nothing is going the Oilers way in this regard in the early going. That said, things are starting to change a little bit. Let’s look at all the wounded Oilers and their current statuses.

Sam Gagner:

Gagner, the team’s leading scorer a year ago, has missed all 13 games to this point with a broken jaw he suffered thanks to a pre-season cheap high-stick from Canucks forward Zack Kassian. That being said, Gagner will return to the Oilers lineup tonight when the team hosts the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Gagner will give the Oilers a big boost in a lot of areas. One, offensive skill and creating chances, and two, leadership. Gagner is the heart and soul of the team up front, and that can’t be under estimated. We all know he can play a good offensive game, evident by last year’s career year in the 48 game season.

Sam was supposed to be a big part of this team, and I think will give the Oilers a big boost in the lineup.

Ryan Smyth:

Smyth left the Oilers east coast road trip nursing an injury last Sunday and was supposed to miss a week of action. He returned to skating this morning, but according to Bob Stauffer isn’t exactly close to returning to the lineup.

Smyth isn’t anything special at this stage of his career, but he’s a good 4th line guy and can play on the PK. He’s a better option than some other guys in the Oilers lineup, and has actually played quite well since his healthy scratch a few weeks back. He’ll be another welcomed addition when he returns, and my bet is that he comes back sometime next week when the Oilers are in Florida/Tampa Bay.

Taylor Hall:

Edmonton badly misses their top weapon and needs Hall back in the lineup. He is the guy that stirs the drink with this club, and is the guy that is closest to being an NHL superstar. In fact, he’s already one of the best left wingers in the league today. Hall is a special player.

He hurt his knee as we all know in Ottawa a little over a week ago, and was expected to miss four weeks. That being said, Oilers insider Bob Stauffer wrote in an article last night that Hall could be back within the next two-to-four games, meaning he could be back as early as Saturday and as late as next Thursday. Both would put him ahead of his timeline.

I’m not exactly sure what will happen with Hall, but it seems the Oilers could get their top weapon back a little earlier than expected, which would be a much needed boost to the lineup.

The Other Oilers:

Forward Ryan Hamilton skated today, but is said to not exactly be close and didn’t take line rushes. We haven’t seen Hamilton for a few weeks now and I don’t think we will be seeing him in an Oilers jersey in the next few weeks either. Have to figure he spends some time in OKC to get back up to speed.

Forward Jesse Joensuu is still on the mend and isn’t skating yet. The Oilers need him back, as he provides them with that bigger forward who plays a physical game. Joensuu is a guy that could play a big role in the bottom six, but it doesn’t look like he is too close to a return at this point.

Corey Potter went to OKC for a conditioning stint and has been brought back up. That said, we haven’t heard much more on that front, and I wonder how far off Potter is. I wouldn’t be shocked if we saw him somewhat soon. Nick Schultz has struggled again this season, and considering Potter is a decent puck-moving defender we could see him draw some time over Schultz the elder.

Potter was decent last year and was far from the problem for the Oilers on the blue-line. His stats were pretty good, and I think he might be a good option for the bottom pairing, which has struggled so far this season.

When healthy, we could see the following for Edmonton, which is pretty good and no doubt an upgrade over what the team currently has:

Taylor Hall – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle

David Perron – Sam Gagner – Ales Hemsky

Ryan Jones – Marc Arcobello – Nail Yakupov

Ryan Smyth – Boyd Gordon – Jesse Joensuu

Gazdic and Acton

Smid – Petry

Ference – J. Schultz

Potter-Belov