Trent Frederic, Edmonton’s major deadline day trade acquisition, worsened his existing ankle injury while playing against the Los Angeles Kings and will not play against Anaheim tonight. According to Mark Spector of Sportsnet, “Trent Frederic did not take the morning skate in Anaheim today, after re-injuring his ankle Saturday in LA.” Rookie goaltender Olivier Rodrigue is also making his NHL debut.
Tony Brar announces the lineup for tonight’s game:
DM lines and pairings for Monday’s skate:
Podkolzin, RNH, Arvidsson, Hyman, Henrique, Perry, Skinner, Janmark, Brown, McDavid*, Kapanen, and Jones.
• Note: Draisaitl took several reps with 93 and 33.
Walman is the nurse, Kulak is Bouchard, and Stecher is Emberson.
Rodrigue Pickard
My take 1. First John Klingburg, Mattias Ekholm, and Leon Draisaitl now Frederic, the fourth time in the last few weeks that an Edmonton Oilers player has returned to the line-up after a spell of injury only to quickly re-injure himself and have go back to the pressbox.
This is starting to be a most unhappy trend, especially when it’s coupled with other injuries keeping other important players, Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Stuart Skinner and Evander Kane — out of the line-up just now, all with the playoffs just two weeks away.
2. Looking at potential playoff opening night lineups, things aren’t looking good. 3. The sour atmosphere around Frederic intensifies since the Oilers traded away key assets, including two prospects, Maximum Wanner and Shane LaChance, as well as a second and fourth round selection pick. The Oilers also acquired Max Jones, who had been playing on the team’s fourth line.
4. McDavid and Draisaitl are still in their hockey primes and will be for a few more years, but Edmonton’s Cup hopes are hampered by the reality that so many Oilers are now in their 30s, a time when age and injury sometimes catch up with players. That being said, Ekholm was He was playing outstanding hockey this year before getting hurt. Kane had a significant impact on the 2024 playoffs before leaving. It’s possible that the Oilers are still pretty healthy and ready for the 2025 playoffs. However, any news about Frederic, such as this current one, is particularly undesirable. It is beginning to stack up to at least a moderate level of alarm.
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