The Edmonton Oilers have finally given a positive injury update regarding forward Viktor Arvidsson.
After Zach Hyman returned to the lineup last week, the team is still waiting for Arvidsson to lace up the skates. The veteran Swede was presumably injured following a November 12 game against the New York Islanders.
The initial prognosis was that Arvidsson would only miss a few days, but a setback in recovery has led to him missing the last 11 games with an undisclosed injury. He wasn’t on the ice with the main Oilers group at practice this morning, but head coach Kris Knoblauch did have some good news about where Arvidsson is at.
“He’s been skating and feeling better, not going to play immediately,” Knoblauch told reporters. “We’re hoping that he’s back practicing with the team this week.”
Having Arvidsson out of the lineup has forced Knoblauch to be creative with his top-six group over the last month. Vasily Podkolzin was promoted to the second line and has found some chemistry with Leon Draisaitl.
For a while, it was Connor Brown holding Arvidsson’s spot on the right side of Draisaitl. More recently, Kasperi Kapanen has been moved to that line.
Luckily, the Oilers don’t appear to be crumbling without Arvidsson. When he was initially injured, Edmonton had a record of 8-7-1. In the 11 games played without him, the Oilers have managed to play to a 7-3-1 record.
Arvidsson is also expected to be healthy in time for the 4 Nations Face-Off event happening this February after he was named to Team Sweden earlier this month.
Getting him back healthy and into the lineup will help the team’s depth and force Knoblauch to find a new spot for Kapanen in the bottom six. Until then, however, the team will have to go through at least one more week without the Swede.