Oilers confirm brutal injury news to top defenceman, return timeline for Stuart Skinner

Mattias Ekholm did not play with the Oilers in their game against the Seattle Kraken, and now he's been ruled out for tonight's game as well - raising some real concern for the team's top defenceman.

According to TSN's Ryan Rishaug, Ekholm is dealing with a lingering issue that's causing him to sit out.

In addition, Connor McDavid may not take the team's road trip, Stuart Skinner will be out for one week, and Trent Frederic is still a week or two away from playing.

McDavid not taking the Oilers road trip could be a worrying sign for his condition, and a hint that he may miss even more time than initially expected. Skinner may be dealing with a concussion, which has highly volatile recovery timelines.

However, there may be a serious concern for Mattias Ekholm out of all the currently injured Oilers. Ekholm has been dealing with several issues going back months at this point, and it's seen an unfortunate dip in the quality of his play when he has been in the lineup.

Ekholm may be the Oilers best two-way defenceman, and he plays a major role on the team as the perfect partner for the offensive defender Evan Bouchard. With those two on the ice, the Oilers are a formidable five-man unit.

The Oilers haven't fully revealed what injury he's dealing with at this point.
It will be crucial to get Ekholm as close to healthy as possible before the playoffs.