Concern Grows For Edmonton Oilers After Evan Bouchard is Absent From Practice

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Liam McCormick
November 23, 2024 (10:59)

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The Edmonton Oilers took to the ice for practice moments ago, and defenceman Evan Bouchard is notably absent.

Given that Bouchard is not well enough to practice after also missing yesterday's light morning skate, it's not likely that he'll be able to play tonight. He wasn't included in the Oilers line rushes.

There's been no official injury report on Bouchard, but it's possible that he's dealing with something minor and the Oilers have marked this game as an opportunity to give their top defenceman some rest. After tonight's game, the Oilers won't play again until next Friday.

Hopefully it's nothing serious for Bouchard that could keep him out for the longer term. Bouchard has struggled this season with some bad looking turnovers and offensive mistakes, but he's still the Oilers best defenceman.

The Oilers will also be missing forwards Zach Hyman and Victor Arvidsson tonight with injury. Hyman sustained an injury against the Ottawa Senators, and Arvidsson's been day-to-day for over a week now.

Fortunately, it looks like Oilers will get a boost with the return of Darnell Nurse tonight. Nurse had been sidelined with a swollen eye after taking a nasty high hit from Leafs forward Ryan Reaves.

As for tonight's lineup, Knoblauch's made a few interesting decisions after the embarrassing loss to the Minnesota Wild.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Kasperi Kapanen will join Connor McDavid on the first line, and Connor Brown will be elevated to the second line on Draisaitl's right wing.

Jeff Skinner has been moved out of the top six again, back down to the third line - clearly still in the doghouse with Coach Knoblauch.

After another subpar effort against Minnesota last time out, fans expected Calvin Pickard to get the starting nod in net tonight, but Stuart Skinner will be back in the crease.

Hopefully Skinner can bring a decent performance against a talented Rangers team tonight to build some confidence heading into the Oilers long break next week.