While the Edmonton Oilers are in a much better position now health-wise, there are still some injury concerns within the organization.
Prior to the 2023-24 campaign, the Edmonton Oilers had a number of important players sidelined by injuries. This included Mattias Ekholm and Ryan McLeod, as well as Markus Niemeläinen (albeit important more from a roster set-up/salary cap perspective).
Fortunately for the Oilers, all three players have now returned to action and brought more stability to the roster. However, there’s still some injuries for us to provide news on:
Brady Stonehouse
The Brady Stonehouse injury is an interesting one, in respect of how ambiguous it is. As things stand, it has been officially listed as an undisclosed injury.
Stonehouse played in all of the Ottawa 67s’ first six regular season games, although he’s underperformed so far, leading to the question of if the undisclosed injury has compromised him in some way? At this point his expected return date is noted as October 24 at the earliest, which would mean he misses at least the next two games.
The 67s’ assistant captain impressed the Oilers’ rookie camp and the beginning of the main training camp. As a result, he was rewarded with a three-year entry-level contract.
Want your voice heard? Join the Oil On Whyte team!
Ryan Fanti
In reality, there isn’t much more of an update to give compared to our previous review of Ryan Fanti’s injury status. He’s still listed as month-to-month with his hip issue, so currently is set to return at the beginning of November at the earliest.
The goaltender entered training camp with his hip injury, so it’s undoubtedly been a tough few months for him. He’s already behind the eight ball, when it comes to competing with Olivier Rodrigue and Calvin Pickard for playing time in the AHL with the Condors.
Making the situation even more challenging for Fanti, he will become a restricted free agent at the conclusion of the season as things stand. As such, he really needs to get back on the ice and in between the pipes as soon as possible.
Sam Gagner
The Oilers invited their former sixth overall draft pick to a PTO during the summer. However, having previously undergone surgery on both hips, Sam Gagner was still limited in what he could do.
As a result, the 24-year-old only practiced during training camp and did not take part in any preseason games. As the forward told the Edmonton Sun, he hopes to play again, but at the time of writing there’s still no official confirmation of the outcome of his re-evaluation by the Oilers.
However, a recent report from Jason Gregor of Sports 1440 does advise Gagner is currently waiting to get a work visa, which alludes to him now being healthy. Once the visa is received, he will go to Bakersfield to play some games and see what happens.
Of the trio, Gagner has the most intrigue in terms of potentially playing for the Oilers at some point this season. Overall though, there are nowhere near as many concerns as prior to the season.