As a wave of injuries sidelines key stars, Mike Babcock challenges his roster to step up and claim permanent roles before the puck drops on opening night.
The Edmonton Oilers started camp with one known injury: Frederik Andersen. Early on they lost Matt Savoie because of an off-ice issue. Not long after, Jason Dickinson was hurt in practice. Then, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins suffered an ankle injury on Tuesday. Needless to say, it's not been a run of good look for the Oilers as the regular season kicks off on Tuesday night.
That said, head coach Mike Babcock isn't looking at these injuries as a tough pill to swallow. While it is, he more sees this as an opportunity for others. When asked if the injuries hampered his gameplan, Babcock said, "You can look at it that way or say it's an opportunity for other people." He added, "I'm just going to watch and they're going to decide. We might find a penalty killer, we might find a power play guy. That's what happens when these things go on. You think you don't have somebody and then suddenly you got somebody that you didn't even know you had."
He said, "Here we are, we're preparing for the game tonight. We're going to play hard."
Nugent-Hopkins is listed as day-to-day, but Babcock noted that usually, in his experience, means two weeks.
Matt Savoie was eight weeks at the start of the week.
Frederik Andersen is likely going to return something in December.
Jason Dickinson hasn't been able to push it in practice, so he's likely not incredibly close.
Mattias Janmark -- who was injured ahead of camp -- is a ways away.
When asked who will take the spot of Nugent-Hopkins on the power play, the answer was No. 92: Vasily Podkolzin.
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