The Edmonton Oilers are heading into their first road game of the regular season with their forward group already taking hits. Zach Hyman is expected to miss the next two weeks with an undisclosed injury he suffered in Edmonton’s preseason finale against the Calgary Flames, according to Sportsnet’s Jack Michaels.
Hyman still dressed for the season opener against the Vancouver Canucks and logged 20 minutes, finishing with two hits and three shots on goal. But Edmonton is now bracing for a stretch without one of its most productive finishers.
The timing makes the situation even messier. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is also expected to be out for roughly two weeks after being placed on injured reserve Thursday with a lower-body injury he picked up in practice.
The Oilers also moved Matt Savoie to long-term injured reserve. The young winger, who skated on Connor McDavid’s flank late last season, is expected to miss seven weeks with an undisclosed injury.
That leaves Edmonton squeezing its lineup and shuffling its offense. Leon Draisaitl will slide up to McDavid’s wing after opening the season as the second-line center.
Vasily Podkolzin, who scored two goals on Tuesday, will complete that top unit. Edmonton is counting on that trio to carry a heavy load while the rest of the forward group gets sorted out.
Josh Samanski was called up Thursday and practiced between Isaac Howard and Trent Frederic, while Kasperi Kapanen and Alex Formenton are expected to help drive the depth scoring.
For Hyman, the absence comes while Edmonton is trying to navigate a very familiar kind of early-season hole. The 34-year-old scored 31 goals and 52 points in just 58 games last season, which projects to 43 goals and 73 points over a full 82-game schedule.
He put up those numbers despite missing the start of the 2025-26 season because of a wrist injury suffered in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The year before that, he had 27 goals and 44 points in 2024-25, following a career-best 54 goals in 80 games in 2023-24.
Podkolzin may be the best bet to help replace some of that scoring. He had 19 goals and 37 points last season, his second in Edmonton, and he looked more confident as the year went on. He enters the 2026-27 season with swagger and a nose for the net, and now he’ll be asked to bring those traits to the top line and the top power-play unit.
There is at least some evidence the McDavid-Draisaitl-Podkolzin combination can work. Since Podkolzin arrived in Edmonton, that trio has played 55 minutes together, outscored opponents 6-1, and held a 41-24 edge in shots.
Edmonton also made a move in goal before game two, placing Frederik Andersen on long-term injured reserve. Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal reported that Andersen is expected to remain out until sometime in December.
Andersen won the Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes last season, though he gave way to rookie Brandon Bussi in the final push of the postseason. The 36-year-old has been dealing with injuries regularly over the last four seasons, averaging just 27 games per year in that span.
He posted a .900 save percentage in 2023-24, a season that included a career-best .932 mark in 16 games, but he has dropped below .900 in each of the last two seasons. Last year was his toughest stretch yet, as he finished 16-14-5 with a .874 save percentage.
When Andersen is healthy again, Edmonton will be hoping he can give the team another option in a goalie room that is still searching for its starter.
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