Edmonton Oilers get more good news on Arvidsson injury
The Edmonton Oilers have gotten some more good news surrounding forward Viktor Arvidsson.
A shroud of mystery has surrounded Arvidsson’s status since he first went down with an injury in early November. Initially, he was considered day-to-day but that was soon upgraded as he has missed a total of 14 games with an undisclosed injury.
Last week, Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said that Arvidsson was expected to start skating with the team this week, which wound up being true. While he wasn’t taking line rushes in his usual spot, Arvidsson was on the ice with his Oilers teammates this morning.
Knoblauch was able to give yet another positive update on the veteran Swede after practice.
“Arvidsson did look pretty good,” Knoblauch said. “We’ll wait a little bit longer before he’s able to [draw back in].
“Arvidsson will not play [tonight].”
"We've got a lot of games to get excited about & a good test for us… I think it's good to have these types of games to look forward to."
Coach Knoblauch on the #Oilers in the midst of a challenging stretch of opponents. @Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/XqkQdnaSln
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) December 16, 2024
As mentioned, Arvidsson was not in his usual spot at practice. Rather than playing in the top-six forward group, he was on the top defensive pair alongside Mattias Ekholm. Evan Bouchard, who would usually occupy that spot, had the morning off with a maintenance day.
Knoblauch joked that perhaps Arvidsson could find himself playing defence when he returns.
“Looked like maybe he might take Bouch’s spot,” Knoblauch laughed.
Luckily, it does appear that Bouchard will be able to suit up once again for the Oilers tonight after he took a scary fall in last week’s 7-1 win over the Minnesota Wild.
The Oilers have been rolling of late even with Arvidsson out. Kasperi Kapenen has taken over his usual spot on the right side of Leon Draisaitl and the chemistry there seems to be building quickly.
If that continues to trend in the right direction, it will force Knoblauch to make some difficult decisions with his forward group. There is a distinct possibility that Arvidsson could find himself on Edmonton’s third line alongside Adam Henrique and Jeff Skinner when he is finally able to make his return.
It does appear that the Oilers will be rolling with an identical lineup to the one that defeated the Vegas Golden Knights over the weekend. Stuart Skinner will get the start once again in this Stanley Cup Final rematch against the Florida Panthers.
The Edmonton native has a lifetime record of 2-0-0 against this team in the regular season and, of course, went 3-4 in the Final last season.
There will be plenty of motivation on both sides for this hotly anticipated game. Puck drop is set at Rogers Place for 6:30 pm MT on Amazon Prime.