More bad news for Edmonton Oilers as they might be without Nugent-Hopkins tonight
The Edmonton Oilers’ recent injury and illness nightmare is continuing to be a major problem.
Edmonton already has several critical players out of the lineup for tonight’s game against the St. Louis Blues. All of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Mattias Ekholm, and Stuart Skinner are out with injuries and now Ryan Nugent-Hopkins might be joining that crew.
The longest-tenured Oilers player was not on the ice for practice this morning and head coach Kris Knoblauch has labelled Nugent-Hopkins as doubtful to play tonight. This is due to the 31-year-old battling an illness.
“Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is doubtful tonight, most likely not playing,” Knoblauch confirmed. “He is sick… very short-term [absence].”
"We expect to get everybody before the end of the season, whether that's in a couple games or one of the last two games of the season. Those guys are day-to-day to maybe a week away."
Coach Knoblauch on the timelines for McDavid & Draisaitl.@Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/9CMdvS3j9X
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) April 9, 2025
The Oilers did call up Noah Philp from the AHL on an emergency basis yesterday, indicating that this was coming. The 26-year-old Philp will draw into the lineup in place of Nugent-Hopkins but the team will still be shorthanded with just 11 forwards and six defencemen expected to dress.
This does not bode well for an Oilers team that only needs a few more points to clinch a playoff spot. They currently sit six points ahead of the Calgary Flames for third spot in the Pacific Division and a win tonight would practically guarantee a spot in the postseason.
Edmonton struggled against a lowly Anaheim Ducks team earlier this week and not having several star players in the lineup against a surging St. Louis squad is bad news.
However, Knoblauch was able to assure reporters that good news is on the horizon. The sophomore coach said that Skinner is expected to be available for Friday night’s game against the San Jose Sharks. McDavid, Draisaitl, and Ekholm are all considered day-to-day at this point and are expected to return before the regular season ends next week.
The timeline for both Trent Frederic and Evander Kane has not yet been revealed.
This has been one of the more intense injury stretches for the Oilers over the past few seasons, but as long as everybody is healthy for the playoffs they should be fine.
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