Ekholm injury question leaves dark cloud hanging over Edmonton Oilers

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The Edmonton Oilers have shown that they can survive the storm without Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl, even in the playoffs at the same time.

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And, while the two offensive powers will return to the playoffs in time, there is a dark cloud hanging on the group on defense.

It seems that it hasn’t been better since February, regardless of the injury, and the Oilers’ danger is not to have a top defender and catch Lynchpin when he needs it most.

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The 34-year-old Swedish has missed 15 of his last 19 games and failed to calculate a 1:52 stumbled on the ice 1:52 with a failed test rate before exiting the tunnel against the San Jose Sharks on Friday.

He didn’t play against the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday.

Let’s be clear – IIf he is still unavailable in the playoffs, it’s all-weather for the Oilers to win the Stanley Cup finals back. In his absence, no one else would step up. There is no solution here. There is no alternative appearance, either. Ekholm made himself essential to the team.

It’s not just the oil man’s fine to kill people. The only reason to pair with offensively aware Evan Bouchard’s work is that the presence of Ekholm’s veteran makes up for his teammates’ defensive flaws. His breakthrough was passed to skilled forwards at Edmonton, which has become the driving force behind their high octane offense.

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The oil union was lucky enough to land among the people who could cover up one of the areas, not to mention all of them. It’s a sad fact before the playoffs, and the Oilers will clash with the Los Angeles Kings for the fourth consecutive year because the prognosis doesn’t sound optimistic.

“Mattias is getting a second opinion look at what it looks like after another doctor gets a second opinion, and see what it looks like.” Head coach Kris Knoblauch told Sportsnet’s Gene Principe. “But now, it looks like Matthias won’t join us right away. ”

Which raises a question, how serious was the initial diagnosis? No wonder Edmonton fans jumped straight into the worst.

Love from Boston

With Boston University lacking in Saturday’s NCAA National Championship, the Oilers didn’t waste time signing their lead scorer Quinn Hutson to reach a two-year entry-level deal that took effect immediately.

Montreal Canadiens rookie guard and Calder Trophy candidate Lane Hutson, 23-year-old brother, Quinn Hutson, scored a career-high 50 points (23 goals, 27 assists) in his third-year game against the Terriers.

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He was ranked ninth in the country with scoring percentage and was selected for the second All-Star team in Hockey East.

Hutson is expected to report directly to the Oilers, which will breach the first year of the contract and become a restricted free agent at the end of the 2025-26 season.

Hutson is the oldest of the four brothers. In addition to Lane Hutson, Cole Hutson, the Washington Capitals draft pick, also played for Boston University, while the youngest Lars Hutson was with USHL’s Muskegon Lumberjacks.

Quinn Hutson, the second free agent signed by the Oilers this season, signed Ohio State defensive Damien Carfagna in March to a two-year entry-level contract.

Creas increase

The Oilers have signed goalkeeper Samuel Jonsson to sign a three-year entry-level contract.

The Six-Five-year-old was drafted in the fifth round (158th overall) in Sweden, last season named Hockey Allsvenskan goalkeeper of the year with Bik Karlskoga at 17-60 and with 1.88 GoargainSt average hit rate and .922 “.922” Shut Unter and Six Shot Unting rates.

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Are the cavalry coming?

Ekholm and Zach Hyman were injured on Friday, and the Oilers urgently recalled forward Derek Ryan and defensive Cam Dineen at Bakersfield condors of American Hockey League of American Hockey League

Ryan, 38, was officially recalled to the California farm team after making room for goalkeeper Olivier Rodrigue on March 27.

These vultures can also use all the help they can get to fight for their playoff life, with the roster in which they are exhausted from injury like big clubs, and must also send players to cover up the game.

Email: godejong@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @gerrymoddejonge

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