- Zach Hyman won’t play Thursday in Vancouver with an upper-body injury
- Mike Babcock pulled out his own day-to-day translation again
- Read below for Babcock’s injury update video and Edmonton’s shuffled lines
The Oilers are down another top-six forward.
Zach Hyman didn’t travel with the team to Vancouver and will miss Thursday’s rematch with the Canucks because of an upper-body injury. Mike Babcock called him day-to-day, then reminded everyone what that label means to him: “I think that means two weeks.”
That’s the same math Babcock used two days ago on Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who is already on injured reserve with a lower-body injury from Monday’s practice. Two veteran forwards, two “day-to-day” tags, one coach who isn’t buying either of them.
Hyman got hurt in the preseason finale against Calgary on Saturday. He still played 20:33 in Tuesday’s 6-5 overtime loss to Vancouver, including 5:04 on the power play, and finished with three shots and two hits but no points.
Watch Babcock’s update on Hyman from Thursday’s morning skate:
Babcock was asked how the growing injury list changes things for his group. He sees it as a chance to learn who can handle more.
“For me, I gotta figure out who they are, but for them, what an opportunity if you’re a young guy or you’re a new guy trying to find a role on a team,” Babcock said. “You might say it’s not ideal, but in another way, it’s really ideal. A little adversity at the start of the year never hurt anybody. Let’s dig in.”
Vasily Podkolzin stays on the top line with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl after scoring twice on the power play in the opener. Josh Samanski, called up from Bakersfield on an emergency basis, centers the fourth line between Isaac Howard and Trent Frederic. Here’s how Edmonton lined up at morning skate:
Devon Levi gets his first start in an Oilers sweater in this one.
Losing Hyman stings on the power play in particular. He scored 10 of the 68 power-play goals Edmonton’s top-ranked unit produced last season and finished with 31 goals and 52 points in just 58 games. Two years ago he hit 54 goals.
Edmonton’s injury list runs deeper than that. Matt Savoie is on long-term injured reserve, and the Edmonton Journal’s Jim Matheson reported that goaltender Frederik Andersen isn’t expected back until sometime in December.
If Babcock’s two-week rule holds, Hyman should be back in the lineup by the middle of October.
