Pre-season has been very good for the Oilers. The team is 6-0, has three goalies playing strong hockey, and has seen young players like Griffin Reinhart, Leon Draisaitl and Anton Slepyshev emerge as legit NHL options for this upcoming season.
Just like in life, however, not everything can be going well. The Oilers learned that the hard way tonight when Jordan Eberle left the team’s 4-0 victory over Arizona with an apparent shoulder injury. Eberle was hit by Coyote F Kyle Chipchura and landed awkwardly, leading to him leaving the game.
Post-game, some details began to leak out about the injury and they are not good. TSN1260’s Jason Gregor wrote over at OilersNation that sources are telling him the injury is “not good” and that it isn’t some day-to-day issue.
TSN’s Ryan Rishaug piled on the bad news following the Oiler victory as well, tweeting out that Eberle was seen after the game with his arm in a sling. I’m no medical expert, far from it actually, but even I know it isn’t good when your arm is in a sling.
When Will We Find Out More?:
Todd McLellan, in his post-game press conference, told the media that he could guess the extent of Eberle’s injury, but that they will know more for sure Wednesday. McLellan also told reporters that, obviously, Eberle will not practice tomorrow.
Nothing is confirmed, not even close, but the signs point towards this not being a good situation for the Oilers. Eberle has scored 60 points in this league multiple times, his production will be extremely tough to replace, if not impossible, for the Oilers.
As of this writing, I’m still crossing my fingers that Eberle isn’t hurt bad and will be back in two or three weeks time, but I’m not exactly holding my breath….We wait, and of course I’ll update this post the moment anything pops up regarding Eberle.
What Happens If It’s Long Term:
I won’t go too far into this right now, mainly because we don’t know enough about the injury. If it turns out to be massive, then I’ll write a big post regarding the possibilities, because there are a number of them.
Leon Draisaitl and Anton Slepyshev have both impressed in camp and will likely be on the NHL team if this injury is severe. Both will likely get a chance to showcase in a top-six role in the final two pre-season games, they’ve both shown chemistry with the top two lines at one point.
The wild card? Teddy Purcell, who skated on Tuesday and is expected to be ready for opening night in St. Louis next Thursday.
More as it happens from practice tomorrow.
***UPDATE: 10:32 AM MT***
The Oilers have announced that Jordan Eberle will miss 4-6 weeks with a shoulder injury. This means that Eberle will miss at least three weeks of the regular season as there is still a week left of pre-season. This news is not good, the Oilers will certainly miss Eberle early.
That said, it’s not as bad as it could have been, early reports had him out for almost eight weeks. If it’s the shorter end of this, three regular season weeks is not the end of the world. That said, it’s still a big blow for the Oilers.
More in-depth info coming tonight.
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