The Edmonton Oilers are getting Zach Hyman back into the lineup tonight, but question marks are still swirling around the status of Viktor Arvidsson.
He was recently named to Team Sweden for the upcoming 4 Nations tournament, but he has been missing in action for almost a month for the Oilers. Arvidsson was seemingly injured in a November 12 game against the New York Islander and, while the initial prognosis was that he would be day-to-day, he has now missed nine games and is still not skating with the team.
Daily Hive asked Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch if there was any more information regarding the type of injury and if there was a timeline in place. The response was not encouraging.
“I don’t have a timeline, it’s obviously gone on longer than we anticipated,” Knoblauch revealed. “Thought it was just a couple days off, rest, get back, and it hasn’t quite healed the way we assumed it would have.
“So right now, I don’t have a timeline for you.
Arvidsson was one of the team’s premier offseason signings, and the expectation was that he would give Leon Draisaitl a shoot-first winger who could capitalize on his passes. While the veteran Swede has proven to be a feisty player, he has struggled to put the puck in the net. Before the injury, Arvidsson had just two goals and five points in his first 16 games with the Oilers.
Since he’s been out, Draisaitl has gotten acquainted with Vasily Podkolzin and Connor Brown as his linemates. That will change tonight as Kasperi Kapanen will move down to that line with Hyman returning to the top line.
The Oilers have also been pretty secretive with the nature of Arvidsson’s injury. There has been no clarification about whether it’s an upper or lower-body issue. Arvidsson is coming off a pair of lower body and back injuries that limited him to just 32 regular season games with the LA Kings over the previous two seasons.
Hopefully, for the Oilers and Arvidsson, this year won’t see him out for that long.