Oilers coach Knoblauch just revealed that Victor Arvidsson will miss his fourth straight game, already far more time than the team originally reported.
Victor Arvidsson missed a practice last week, which prompted reporters to ask about his absence. Coach Knoblauch described it as a maintenance day for Arvidsson, saying there was a 50% chance he'd play and that it's not a serious injury.
Now that Arvidsson has missed four games, that original claim of a maintenance day is looking completely wrong. The most concerning part of this extended absence for Arvidsson is the fact that the player has a troubling injury history.
Through his 11 year NHL career, Victor Arvidsson has never played a full 82 game season - and he's only played more than 70 games three times.
There's real concern that Arvidsson is an injury-prone player, and with the ever extending 50-50 maintenance day, Oilers fans are seeing why he's earned that reputation. It adds to the frustration that the nature of the injury is still undisclosed.
Expecting that Arvidsson may be back very soon, the Oilers chose not to call up a forward to replace him, and instead have been running 11 forwards and 7 defenceman.
That may have been fine for one or two games, but dragging that on now may be wearing down some veteran players like Corey Perry and Derek Ryan. Oilers reporter Jim Matheson called the decision to play the veterans every game puzzling, but it could be due to Arvidsson's injury timeline extending.
If Arvidsson is going to miss any more time, the Oilers should be looking to bring up another forward. They might have done so already by claiming Kasperi Kapanen on waivers, but we'll see if there's another roster move.
The Oilers are struggling to score goals right now, and although he hasn't been producing yet, losing Arvidsson isn't helping the offence. Knoblauch should elevate Jeff Skinner from his puzzling fourth line role especially with Arvidsson out, but a move hasn't been made yet.
After last night's brutal loss to the Habs, a back to back game can actually be a blessing for the Oilers. It's an opportunity to shake off last night's effort right away, and get a better result tonight.
