There were some surprise when the Edmonton Oilers claimed Alec Regula from the Boston Bruins back in December. Although it did make some sense in that he had a connection with general manager Stan Bowman, from when they were both part of the Chicago Blackhawks organisation.
In any event, there was another 'surprise' coming when it turned out that Regula would not be playing anytime soon. This was due to the defenceman still being at the rehab stage, after undergoing knee surgery while with the Bruins.
Well, there is now some good news for the Oilers and their fans in this respect, with Regula taking the next step in his recovery. Giving due credit to Ryan Hall of Oilers Daily, the 24-year-old has been activated from season-opening injured reserve and subsequently assigned to the Bakersfield Condors.
Alec Regula makes an appearance at Oilers optional morning skate
Things seem to progressing positively for Regula, as per another update from Caleb Kerney of The Hockey News. Prior to Tuesday night's game in Edmonton versus the Washington Capitals, the blue liner was practicing on the ice with Oilers assistant coach Mark Stuart, along with fellow defenceman and recent acquisition John Klingberg.
When Regula is actually ready to play in a game again still remains to be seen, but the thinking is he will first play for the Condors before any such opportunity presents itself with the Oilers. He does have some experience at the NHL level, but it has been limited to 22 games so far, producing one goal, a -3 rating, 32 blocks and 28 hits while averaging 16:54 of ice time.
The 2018 third round draft pick suffered his knee injury during the offseason, but you would assume the Oilers were aware of his condition before claiming him off waivers. Whether he actually gets the chance to play at the NHL level at some point this season will be something to watch out for, especially with the organisation still considering making a trade for a quality defenceman ahead of the Mar. 7 deadline.