Zach Hyman will play Saturday in Utah, and the Oilers are about to get a lot healthier, according to Jason Gregor.
Colton Dach and Jake Walman are both very likely to play as well.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is on track to return late next week against Carolina or Toronto, and Jason Dickinson should be back during the homestand.
Perfect timing. Mike Babcock just said he wants to play his big boys less, and now he finally has the bodies to do it.
It's like getting half the office back from vacation the same week the boss tells everybody to stop working overtime.
Hyman has dressed just once this season on a $5,500,000 cap hit, so his return alone changes the shape of the top six.
Walman has no points and a -3 rating on a $7,000,000 cap hit.
Oilers injury update.
Hyman will play tomorrow.
Dach and Walman are very likely to play.
RNH on track to return late next week v. CAR or TOR.
Dickinson should return on homestand as well.
Dach is on IR, so when activated, EDM needs to make a roster move. Could just put Dickinson on IR retroactive to last Tuesday and he'd be eligible to play this coming Tuesday.
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Edmonton Oilers finally getting healthy after tough injury stretch
Nugent-Hopkins carries a $5,125,000 cap hit, according to HockeyDB, and has yet to play this season.
Dach is on IR, so Edmonton will need a roster move when he's activated, Gregor noted.
Gregor suggested the Oilers could place Dickinson on IR retroactive to last Tuesday, making him eligible to return this coming Tuesday.
Dach sits at -4 on a $1,200,000 deal.
Babcock's comment came after Thursday's 4-2 home loss to Utah.
Connor McDavid logged 25:52 in that game and leads the team with 18 points.
Leon Draisaitl has 12 points of his own, and Evan Bouchard logged 27:03 Thursday, the most on the team.
Vasily Podkolzin leads the team with 7 goals.
Edmonton is 5-1-1 and still perfect on the road.
Utah comes in at 6-2-0 after winning the first half of the home-and-home.
Devon Levi took his first loss Thursday, making 20 saves on 23 shots.
After Saturday in Utah, the Oilers host Minnesota, Carolina, Toronto and Detroit on a four-game homestand.
Once everyone is back, who comes out of the lineup?
Good problems are still problems. Babcock is about to have plenty of them, and he'll happily take every one.
Will the Oilers' returning players fix their depth problem?
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