Matthew Savoie isn't looking at a long injury absence, and the Edmonton Oilers want that message out early.
Oilers general manager Stan Bowman addressed both Savoie and goalie Frederik Andersen with Sportsnet's Mark Spector on Thursday.
"It's not like he's going to miss half a season or anything like that," Bowman said. "It's going to be much less than that."
Bowman added that Savoie will miss some time, but called it "nothing that we're concerned about."
Savoie put up 37 points this season on 18 goals and 19 assists across all 82 games, plus five game-winning goals and a plus-6 rating.
He closed strong too, with three goals and two assists over his last 10 games before cooling to a single assist in his final five.
Bowman didn't give an exact timeline for Savoie's return, only that it won't stretch anywhere close to what a season-long injury would cost him.
Oilers won't rush Frederik Andersen back from injury
Andersen isn't getting the same tight-timeline treatment. Bowman confirmed the Oilers won't rush the 36-year-old goalie's return, whatever that means for opening night.
The veteran netminder posted a .874 save percentage across 35 appearances this year, going 12-14-2 in a heavy workload between the pipes.
The team's own injury report lists both players as expected to be out until at least October 20, with no further detail on the exact ailments.
Edmonton carries an 886,667 cap hit on Savoie and 2,750,000 on Andersen, numbers that matter little now and plenty once camp actually opens.
Losing a piece like Savoie for part of camp stings. But it's the open-ended Andersen situation that should worry a team that needs stable goaltending from Game 1.
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Edmonton finished last season 41-30-11 with 93 points, good for 14th overall and second in the division. How much this recovery window costs them once puck drop arrives is still unknown.
Should the Oilers be worried about leaning on a 36-year-old Frederik Andersen coming off an unclear injury?
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