The Edmonton Oilers defeated the Dallas Stars, 4-1, on Tuesday night to take a commanding 3-1 series lead in the Western Conference Final. However, the win came at a cost.
Early in the first period, Zach Hyman was on the receiving end of an awkward hit from Stars forward Mason Marchment. Though it wasn’t a particularly big collision, it looked like Hyman’s wrist got jammed up. The Oilers’ gritty winger was in a ton of pain and immediately headed down the tunnel before being ruled out of the contest soon after.
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Speaking with reporters this morning, head coach Kris Knoblauch said that the veteran forward is likely out for the remainder of the season. If that is the case, here are four players who have a big opportunity to step up and help make up for the lost offence and physicality that Hyman has provided on this run.
Viktor Arvidsson
The Viktor Arvidsson signing has not worked out so far. The 32-year-old has been a productive player throughout his NHL career and brings that grittiness that many envisioned would have him play a similar style to Hyman’s. That failed to be the case in the regular season, as he finished with just 15 goals and 27 points.
Arvidsson wasn’t a whole lot better to begin the playoffs and was replaced by Kasperi Kapanen in the lineup versus the Vegas Golden Knights in Round 2. He wasn’t given another opportunity until Game 4 versus the Stars due to an injury to Connor Brown.
With both Brown and Hyman potentially out for Game 5, Arvidsson won’t just remain in the lineup – he will be given a bigger role than we saw on Tuesday, and there’s no better time for the Swedish winger to prove to everybody why he was worth an $8 million deal last offseason.
Evander Kane
Evander Kane has really impressed in these playoffs, considering he missed the entire regular season with injuries. There were some concerns about how he would get up to speed after such a long break, but he has more than lived up to the challenge with four goals and 10 points through 14 games.
As good as Kane has been, he’s in a bit of a goal drought right now, having failed to find the back of the net in his last five outings. This is by no means criticism, as Kane deserves a ton of credit for how he’s played to this point. That said, if there is a player…
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