Viktor Arvidsson wasted know time introducing himself to the face of his new franchise.
The 31-year-old Swedish-born forward laced up his skates with the Edmonton Oilers for the first time this week during back-to-back informal practices, and ended up getting into an open-ice collision with Connor McDavid.
It led to the team captain getting the worst of the exchange, picking himself up of the ice and making his way gingerly to the bench with anything but a smile on his face.
“First practice with him and get him hurt? Yeah, maybe,” joked Arvidsson, who joined as a free agent from the Los Angeles Kings for the past three seasons, each of which ended in a playoff loss to the Oilers.
Thankfully, the effects were only temporary and the pair got right back out for the next shift. Certainly not enough for Arvidsson to receive a glowing review in front of the microphones gathered at the Downtown Community Arena.
“He’s always dangerous on the ice, he’s so sneaky, he works hard. So competitive, he wins battles. Annoying to play against, obviously,” McDavid said of their previous playoff encounters. “Somebody that you’d sure rather have on your team, and he’s one of the guys I’m really excited about.
“I think he’s going to fit in great here.”
As long as Arvidsson can avoid any future run-ins with superstar teammates like he was still wearing a different-coloured sweater, that is.
“Nah, I was just as at fault as he was,” McDavid said. “But kind of funny how it worked out. I guess, old habits, right? Sometimes you’ve got to take it.”
Especially if it means seeing the addition of a veteran 20-30-goal scorer who obviously doesn’t shy away from contact.
Reunion for Arvidsson, Ekholm
If there is one new teammate who needs no introduction, it’s Mattias Ekholm, a fellow Swede and former teammate on a Nashville Predators club that drafted Arvidsson 112th overall in 2014.
“He’s great. We’ve known each other since Nashville times — once I got there and basically ate dinner with him and (Calle) Jarnkrok and (Filip) Forsberg every single day when I lived at the hotel there,” Arvidsson said.
But it’s in Edmonton where he is making his new home. One he hopes lies on the path to a championship.
“They’re at the point here …,” he began, before correcting himself. “We’re at the point here where we’re looking for a Stanley Cup.
You’d have to forgive him for the Freudian slip, considering he’s grown so accustomed over the years to seeing Oilers jerseys across the faceoff dot rather than on his own back.
“I didn’t play the first round when we went to seven (games),” Arvidsson said of the 2022 playoff series, which Edmonton won 4-3. “And then two years in a row, it felt like I was only playing Edmonton because I was hurt too.
“And then last year, I came back at the end and we played them, like, three times and then in the playoffs. So, obviously a little bit strange but it feels good.”
And even better knowing however this season ends, it won’t be in yet another loss to the Oilers after signing a two-year, US$8 million contract with the club.
Making headway-post injury
Having played just 18 games last season after missing the first 50 with a back injury, Arvidsson is looking to regain the form that saw him score 49 and 59 points in his previous two seasons with the Kings.
His most productive seasons saw him go back to back with 61 points in 2016-17 and 2017-18 while, the following year, he scored a career-high 34 goals.
While he’s looking to have things begin to heat back up on the stats sheet, Arvidsson said he isn’t the type of player to complain about living in a city where winter can last up to nearly six months of the year.
“I’m from up north in Sweden too,” he said of his hometown of Kusmark, which is no stranger to cold and snow. “So, I’m pretty used to the conditions and weather.”
E-mail: [email protected]
On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge
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