Edmonton Oilers winger Viktor Arvidsson is banged up after missing the final seven minutes of Thursday’s win over the Colorado Avalanche.
With just under eight minutes to go, Arvidsson blocked a shot off the inside of his right foot by Keaton Middleton that sprung out into the neutral zone. He popped up and chased after the puck, favouring his right foot, trying to take advantage of a misplay by Avalanche goalie Mackenzie Blackwood, before heading to the bench, once again favouring that right foot.
According to The Athletic’s Daniel Nugent-Bowman, the injury isn’t believed to be serious.
Arvidsson missed over a dozen games earlier this season recovering from a lower-body injury he said at the time had been nagging for some time. Since returning on Dec. 19th, he’s appeared in 14 games, scoring four goals and 10 points while taking 35 shots on goal, while his nine even-strength points rank third on the team, behind just Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid. This season, he’s driven offence at a 12 percent rate above league average and defence at a two percent rate below league average, according to Hockey Viz. Those contributions peg him as a low-end first-line player.
Simply put: he’s been everything the Oilers were hoping he would be when they signed him to a two-year, $4-million AAV deal last summer.
It’s unknown if he will be in the Oilers lineup Saturday night when they visit the Vancouver Canucks. While losing him to injury would be far from ideal, the Oilers showed earlier this year they were able to navigate without him for the time being.
