Oilers Injury Nightmare: Andersen and Savoie Out Long-Term

The Edmonton Oilers are currently running a hospital ward instead of a hockey team. Daily Faceoff just dropped the hammer that Samuel Savoie and Frederik Andersen are out long-term, while Jason Dickinson is nowhere close to returning.

Losing your goaltender and forward depth in one fell swoop is the kind of update that makes you want to simulate to the end of the season. Andersen being out long-term is a massive blow to the crease, completely changing the math for a team with deep playoff aspirations.

"Daily Faceoff reported: 'Oilers’ Savoie, Andersen out long-term; Dickinson still not close'"

Edmonton has actually been rolling lately, stringing together a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames and back-to-back 2-1 grinders against the Vancouver Canucks and Winnipeg Jets. But trying to keep that momentum going without Andersen—a guy who posted a 2.17 GAA and a .922 save percentage in 52 games a couple of years ago when fully healthy—is like trying to win a drag race on a spare tire.

Savoie and Dickinson being shelved just twists the knife for the forward group. Savoie has a brutal history with lower-body injuries, and Dickinson being labeled as not close is standard hockey coach-speak for do not even look at his locker.

If you are holding Oilers futures tickets, this is the exact moment you start sweating through your shirt. The betting markets will absolutely adjust to Edmonton relying on their backup goaltending for the foreseeable future, and you have to wonder how the front office responds to plug these holes.

Edmonton has a home-and-home coming up against the Canucks starting September 30. We are about to find out exactly how much duct tape this roster has in the trainer's room, because the Pacific Division does not care about your medical bills.