Multiple SHOCKING Oilers Updates... This is crazy

Just when the Oilers were starting to get healthy, they lose two more key players in Mattias Ekholm and now Devin Levi will be out a few weeks putting all eyes on Tristan Jari who is expected to start tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs, a team that has only allowed one power play goal all season long. Welcome back to Oilers Digest, I am your host Joseph Greco and in today's video we're going to be talking about a topic and a subject that I feel I've talked about very frequently unfortunately on this channel and that is the injury bug continuing to bite the Oilers in the early going of the season with some more injury updates and unfortunate blows to the lineup with the biggest storyline in the last 24-48 hours being Devin Levi who will miss a few weeks for the Oilers it was reported earlier this morning that the Oilers will be without Devin Levi for the next few weeks does not seem to be a long-term injury not something that they're overly concerned about but additionally Mattias Ekholm will miss at least the next three games and is expected to be back for next weekend but considering we've heard that about Nugent Hopkins and Hyman and it continues to get pushed back I wouldn't fully trust the timelines from Babcock or Bowman regardless of who's giving them Dickinson is getting close to return could be Calgary next week if not he will also be returning on the road trip same with Mattias Ekholm so unfortunate news for the Oilers when it comes to injuries a team that's had a very successful start to the season and despite the injuries continue to push through but now you're talking about two key players one of your top defensive pairings in Mattias Ekholm he's an effective defenseman who brings out the best in Bouchard and is a guy who you rely on the penalty kill you guy you rely on the last final five two minutes of the game when you want to close out a game huge loss but I think the biggest loss here is Devin Levi who in my eyes has had a tremendous start in with with the Oilers organization uh six wins and only one loss obviously that safe percentage when you look at it 8-8-7 doesn't really scream at you as being one of the you know a consistent goalie or guy who gives you a chance to win but at the end of the day Devin Levi has given up a reasonable amount of goals per game about two to three giving the team more often than not chances to win obviously that last game against Carolina Hurricanes was his first in a while where he gave up you know a handful four or five goals against he hadn't done that since the count the his first game against the season against the Vancouver Canucks and since that first game against the Canucks he's continued to build a lot of confidence the team's playing better in front of him and he makes a lot of key saves and key moments he did it against the Wild he did against the Canes where he was making saves in the third period making saves in overtime to keep the team alive and push the team across that line obviously three for three in the shootout against the Canes despite the fact that he was making those saves with some injury we do not know i at least i have no indication exactly of when that happened there are a few screenshots of him kind of wincing at times in the third period but no clear indication as to what might have caused it and again not something that is expected to keep him out of the lineup for too much time but a guy who had been building so much confidence and been making saves that we hadn't really seen goalies in an Oilers uniform make at least in the last five to seven years. He's going out there. He's making those saves a huge blow for the Oilers. And obviously, Matthias Ekholm, in his own regard, is a huge loss for the Oilers. I already touched on it, but we'll miss the next three games for the Oilers. Expect it to be back next weekend. But the issue here is it really kind of reshapes the lineup for the Oilers. It puts a lot more pressure on that left side. So you're looking at Ryan Shea, who's going to be eating more minutes. You're looking at Wallman, who's had a rough start to the season, who's going to be eating more minutes and Shaq who's going to be getting back into the lineup despite the fact I feel as though he hasn't had a very good start to the season Mike Babcock's been adamant about how he likes his size his reach and what he can do on off the puck he said that he believes he should have never came out of the lineup when talking about Shaq so Babcock has a lot of confidence in him he was taking skate with Bouchard so I doubt we see that as the top pairing you know mook and boosh but if that is the case i don't think it's going to be a great night in the office for those two i think the best idea here is to bump Ryan Shane to the top two and Jake Wallman gets the top four minutes obviously we will see how it plays out we still have a few hours until that game against the Toronto Maple Leaf so i'm sure they're going to be doing their work to see how it all plays out needless to say i think this bloat on the back end is a huge loss a team that in my eyes has been playing much better five on five hockey you lose one of the statistically one of the best pairings in hockey in Ekholm and Bouchard and you lose one of your steady young goaltenders you're putting Tristan Jari in net who ultimately hasn't really had a hot start to the season 2-0-1 that save percentage I know I said the save percentage for Levi wasn't concerning but the save percentage for Jari is more concerning and the reason I say that is because it's been more consistent this save percentage for Jari you look over the his last few seasons and I've said this time and time again when I refer to Jari this is consistent regression in both the goals against and the save percentage you're looking at a guy who's giving up more goals on less shots year after year after year and he hasn't really had the necessarily the best success against the Leafs in his time so tough matchup for Tristan Jari you hope that he can start to find some momentum this is an opportunity and if he comes in and falls short with this injury of Devin Levi and can't string together consistent wins or consistently strong performances where he's given up two or three goals per game or less I think that this is really going to be a falling out for the Oilers especially if you know Tompkins or whoever potentially gets that opportunity should Jari fumble takes over and takes charge I don't see Jari remaining as an Oiler having said that his last two games in Oilers uniform have been much stronger than that first game against the Canucks so I don't want to put too much eyes and weight on that first game that he had to open the season i do fully believe that sometimes he gives up goals he shouldn't especially being in the league as long as he has but i want to give him the benefit of benefit of the doubt he's got a couple weeks here to show his potential show what he can bring to the team live up to that contract and the trade go against the leafs do your business tonight at home continue the win streak going collect what three straight wins at home four straight wins on the season bouncing back after a loss a couple games ago so it could be four straight wins for the Oilers tonight should all things play out well having said that I think these injuries as I mentioned certainly open up opportunities not just for goaltenders but for defense obviously Mook someone who can maybe get an opportunity to showcase his worth but you look at some of the depth and some of these games up ahead after the Leafs you're looking at a game against the Calgary Flames which is a favorable matchup you're looking up against a game against the Detroit Red Wings at home which is a favorable matchup and then you're hitting the road against the Islanders so these next three games for the Oilers favorable in the sense of none of them are really threatening teams to the Oilers when it comes to being high offense or the only tough the only challenge would be Sorokin who's a tough goalie but power play penalty kill you're looking at the bottom of the league for both of those both Detroit and the Islanders so for Jari you got after Toronto you got a few favorable matchups as well as just throughout the lineup you want guys to kind of get opportunities whoever wants to remain in the lineup when Dickinson comes back they're gonna have to show their worth in that regard so obviously tonight tough test against the Toronto Maple Leafs specifically testing the Edmonton Oilers power play who has strung together two back-to-back impressive performances first against the Wild and then against Carolina the power play was much much more efficient even the penalty kill, much more efficient. The Leafs, similar to the Oilers, both coming in on three game win streaks, similar to the Oilers. Their power play has been heating up in the last few games and their penalty kill has been unstoppable all season long. I don't see that happening tonight. I think the Oilers are going to convert on the power play. They have been automatic in the last two games, especially Drysdale, been lethal, getting Nugent-Hopkins back. I know Putkowski's a guy who did his job there. I've seen a lot of people kind of have opinions about Putkowski coming off the power play. I think Nugent Hopkins is there to stay due to his playmaking ability. I think if someone's going to come out of that power play for Putkowski, it would be him and Hyman trying to battle for that net front presence. Now, obviously the lineup itself, sorry, the game itself is something to monitor here. The Oilers have had quite the success in Edmonton the last five times. Toronto has won four of the last five visits in Edmonton. Having said that, they lose Bobby McMahon, who had been pretty lethal against the Oilers, Alberta native, but Jack Roslovic coming back to Edmonton after his time with the team last year, he might have a little bit of extra juice. That top line of Cal and Matthews, Roslovic have been very solid. Marchenko is now with the Toronto Maple Leafs as well. They got Darren Radish at the point, so this is going to be a new look Leafs compared to what the Oilers faced last season. Bobrovsky is going to get the nod against the Oilers, but he hasn't really been too great either, so I think the Oilers will despite that number one penalty the kill, I am going to believe that the Oilers are going to have some success on the power play, especially because of how they've been kicking it into a new gear. For the Oilers, this game is just go in there and handle business. Try and maintain your spot at the top of the Pacific and surge yourself as one of the best teams in the league. Get a four-game win streak going. And I think the biggest opportunity for this game is just to kind of get Devin Levi in, try and get some wins together for Devin Levi. Yes or no? Do you think he is going to handle the opportunity while Devin Levi is out? Or do you think the Oilers are going to struggle with Tristan Jarry in net? Having said that, that is all I have for you guys in today's video and update. If you enjoyed the content, make sure you subscribe, give the video a thumbs up, and I'll catch you in the next video. Toodles.