Edmonton Oilers may sit veteran defenseman in the press box in near future
Photo credit: Isaiah J. Downing /USA TODAY Sports
The Edmonton Oilers are still looking for answers too what went wrong against the Philadelphia Flyers and Washington Capitals after disastrous back-to-back games, and it may lean towards resting several of their players due to fatigue.
On Edmonton Sports 1440, Oilers insider Lowetide revealed that some of their veterans including Matthias Ekholm and Evan Bouchard may need additional rest as the Oilers played a long season and post season last year and Ekholm has now played additional games at the Four Nations face off.
"The Oilers might need to rest some of their veteran players particularly Ekholm. They need to get some of these guys right because if they continue to play like this it could be an early spring for them".
Fatigue may be creeping into entire team with busy stretch ahead
Despite the huge success of the Four Nations face off, it has now compressed the last month and 1/2 of the season for the NHL which will put a significant strain on players especially with several back-to-back games and many road games ahead.
There has been a noticeable drop off in performance with several players including Ekholm, Bouchard and Stuart Skinner.
It's not unheard of for teams to rest some of their players during the season as the organization is well within a playoff spot and could lose a game or two to give those players the chance to recuperate and have a mental reset with the extra games off.
Oilers prepare for upcoming NHL Trade Deadline
The Oilers have five games remaining between today and the NHL trade deadline and speculation will continue to run rampant around the organization as general manager Stan Bowman continues to evaluate and prepare from March 7th.
It seems the Oilers are in need across the team as Bowman may look to upgrade his offence and defence. One thing is for certain, the Oilers will be buyers in this deadline and will likely push all their chips to the middle as the team is poised for another long playoff run.
But as mentioned earlier, their team has to improve their game quickly or they may face an early exit in the first route if they continue to play the way they have as of late.
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