Oilers defenceman departs team before playoffs for personal reasons

The Oilers will be missing Mattias Ekholm for the first round of their playoff series, but Kulak is expected to be back in Los Angeles tomorrow.

According to several Oilers analysts, Kulak has returned to Edmonton to be with his wife and family to welcome to birth of their second daughter.

It's surely a positive that he'll be back in Los Angeles tomorrow for Game 1, as the Oilers will need to lean on their veteran third pair defenceman with Mattias Ekholm out of the lineup.

Kulak will be making a quick flight and if anything may be a little tired when he rejoins the Oilers, but he will have that extra dad strength upon his return.

Unfortunately, the Oilers will be missing more defenceman other than Kulak and Ekholm for game 1 of the playoffs.

Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch ruled out Troy Stecher for the first few games of the series, a very unfortunate development as Stecher has been the most solid depth defensive option.

John Klingberg will be available for the first round, coming off LTIR after not having played for the entire month of April. As a veteran defender coming off several major injuries, he may not bring anything half decent. He shouldn't touch the playoff ice time.

The Oilers defence, when fully healthy, is deeper than it's been in multiple seasons. As long as their defenceman can hold up for another long run, their superstars will be able to carry them to another Cup Final.