Ryan Rishaug of TSN writes, “Ekholm looks pretty good out here. My guess is he plays as 7th D – kills penalties and depending on how he feels his minutes go up or down. Taking part in all the drills so far today.” This is great news for the Edmonton Oilers who weren’t sure if Mattias Ekholm would be ready for opening night after missing all of pre-season.
Ekholm has been dealing with a hip flexor issue that he aggravated in a workout. He called it a “fluke thing” that he figured would go away over time but was taking longer than expected to be ready for game action. The Oilers had maintained that if this was a playoff game, he’d be in. But, for a veteran like Ekholm, playing him in pre-season games that don’t count for points seemed secondary in priority to letting him heal.
Ekholm was paired with Markus Niemelainen who was also on the ice after it was learned that an injury to the defenseman caused a ripple effect in terms of the rest of the roster and what happened with waivers this weekend. Once healthy enough to be waived, Niemelainen will go down and another roster call will be made.
In a brief yet impactful stint spanning 21 games last season, this player proved to be a catalyst for the Oilers. During this limited sample size, the team outscored their opponents by an impressive margin of 21 goals, showcasing their dominance across all aspects of the game when he was on the ice. He was a mentor for Evan Bouchard and the hope is he can have the same impact on a player like Philip Broberg or Vincent Deharnais.
