This in from the Edmonton Oilers, news that they have recalled big bruising veteran d-man Josh Brown from the Bakersfield Condors.
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This news comes as Edmonton has had a raft of d-man related news in the last two days, with Edmonton claiming right shot Alec Regula off waivers, Edmonton waiving journeyman d-man Travis Dermott, Evan Bouchard getting banged up by a sneaky hit in the Minnesota Wild game, Bouchard missing practice today, Dermott then getting claimed by the Wild on waivers, and Bouchard’s injury being declared “nothing major” by Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch, adding that Bouchard is 50/50 for Saturday’s afternoon game against Vegas.
My take
1. The main thing is that Bouchard’s injury doesn’t sound severe, which is exceedingly good news. Of course, Viktor Arvidsson’s injury was supposed to have been resolved quickly and he’s now been out for a month, so there’s that. But I’ll go with Bouchard being back in the line-up soon, and Josh Brown’s recall being a cautionary move.
2. With Mattias Ekholm and Darnell Nurse playing some of the best hockey of their NHL careers, with Brett Kulak his steady self, and with both Ty Emberson and Troy Stecher both stepping up and playing smart, gritty, two-way hockey, the loss of Bouchard for a game or two or three would not spell disaster. This defensive group has is now playing as well as any group of d-men in the McDavid/Draisaitl Era.
At the Cult of Hockey
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