Oilers place another defenceman on injured reserve, facing more injury setbacks

Alec Regula had been one of the Oilers' best success stories in training camp, and handedly won the job as the team's 6th defenceman. It's tough to see him on IR now, but it may not be for long.

In the Oilers' last game against the Canucks on October 11, Regula took two hard body checks from Evander Kane.

Regula was pulled from the ice due to concussion protocol, and Coach Knoblauch confirmed it was caused by Kane's hit.

The return timeline for concussions can be unpredictable, but the Oilers previously reported that they expected Regula to return to the lineup on their current road trip. Now that he's on IR, that may not be the case.

However, it's promising the Oilers didn't place Regula on LTIR instead. Moving Regula to the IR simply frees up a roster spot for the Oilers, which could mean that another injured player is returning to the lineup soon.

Jake Walman and Mattias Janmark were expected to be cleared for play this weekend, but Walman has already suffered a setback.

Now that the Oilers have cleared a roster spot by placing Regula on IR, one of the injured players should be returning to play today's game against the Red Wings - or the Oilers were once again wrong in their timelines.

There will be some tough roster decisions incoming for the Oilers as injured players return, but their team is about to get much better.