It has been a rough few weeks on the injury front for the Oilers, particularly up front. Within the last few weeks, Mattias Janmark, Curtis Lazar, Colton Dach, and Leon Draisaitl have all landed on LTIR, with Janmark being done for the season.
Now, another forward can be added to the injury list. Speaking after practice today, head coach Kris Knoblauch told reporters including Sportsnet’s Gene Principe (Twitter link) that winger Trent Frederic is dealing with an injury with no timeline for his return.
The injury was sustained on Thursday against Florida late in the second period while forechecking. He was able to get up and finish the shift but didn’t return to the game for the third.
This is Frederic’s first full season with Edmonton and to say he has underwhelmed would certainly be fair. Signed to an eight-year contract worth $3.85MM per season back in June, the 28-year-old has struggled offensively. Through 67 games this season, he has just four goals and two assists in a little under 11 minutes a night of playing time. However, he does sit second on the team in hits with 170, only behind winger Vasily Podkolzin.
The next man up approach has been used a lot lately thanks to these injuries and the one who will get the next opportunity is winger Roby Jarventie, recalled into the cap space opened up by Draisaitl’s LTIR placement. It will be Jarventie’s first NHL action since November 2023.
In the meantime, Edmonton has more than ample cap space to bring yet another forward up from AHL Bakersfield. However, given that they still have 12 healthy forwards on the roster, they won’t be in a position to utilize an emergency recall. Accordingly, any forward that comes up from the Condors would count against their post-deadline limit of five. If the Oilers want to keep some flexibility on that front for later in the year or into the playoffs should they qualify, they might elect not to bring up a replacement for Frederic right away.
And?