The Edmonton Oilers know better than just about any team that an NHL season is a marathon, not a sprint.<\/p>\n
But in what could be described as the first kilometre of a long journey, the Oilers are perhaps seeing a few more hurdles in the way than they\u2019d like.<\/p>\n
Less than a week into the 2025-26 campaign, the Oilers have already seen several key players banged up with injuries.<\/p>\n
And heading into a five-game road trip that includes stops against all three NYC metro area teams as well as the Detroit Red Wings and Ottawa Senators, Edmonton could use a few extra bodies along the way.<\/p>\n
Kris Knoblauch met the media Tuesday in New York ahead of the team\u2019s contest with the Rangers, and shared updates on a quartet of key Oilers players.<\/p>\n
According to Knoblauch (and with a hat tip to OilersTV\u2019s Tony Brar<\/a>), the Oilers are \u201chopeful\u201d to have defenceman Jake Walman back in the lineup Thursday when they take on the New York Islanders.<\/p>\n Knoblauch also mentioned forward Mattias Janmark could \u201cpossibly\u201d return this weekend, in one of the two back-to-back contests Saturday and Sunday against New Jersey and\/or Detroit.<\/p>\n For a pair of other Oilers, the diagnosis goes a bit longer. Knoblauch mentioned the team is optimistic that defenceman Alec Regula can return closer to the end of the five-game trip, while forward Zach Hyman might be waiting until the \u201cend of the month\u201d with a wrist injury suffered in the Western Conference Final<\/a> last year.<\/p>\n Oilers lineup vs. New York Rangers<\/p>\n Here\u2019s how the Oilers\u2019 forward group lines up, as per Sportsnet\u2019s Mark Spector<\/a>:<\/p>\n Leon Draisaitl-Connor McDavid-Andrew Mangiapane Jack Roslovic will make his Edmonton debut after signing for the team last week.<\/p>\n And here are the defensive pairs:<\/p>\n Mattias Ekholm-Evan Bouchard Stuart Skinner is expected in goal for the Oilers.<\/p>\n
\nMatt Savoie-Ryan Nugent-Hopkins-Jack Roslovic
\nVasily Podkolzin-Trent Frederic-Kasperi Kapanen
\nIke Howard-Adam Henrique-Tomasek<\/p>\n
\nDarnell Nurse-Troy Stecher
\nBrett Kulak-Ty Emberson<\/p>\n