Ekholm practices with Oilers, could return during West Final against Stars 

EDMONTON -- Mattias Ekholm thought his season might be over a month ago, but there he was on the ice Monday, preparing to possibly play for the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference Final.

“I feel good, I didn’t think I was going to be in this position this quick, so I’m really happy about that,” the defenseman said Monday. “Our trainers have done a tremendous job with me, and the healing has gone better than I thought. But still, I’m just trying to take it day by day.”

The Oilers have two days before opening the Western Conference Final against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Arena on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN+, ESPN, SN, TVAS, CBC), and the practice Monday was a good step to Ekholm getting back into the lineup at some point during the series.

“Today was the first time with the team on the ice in a full practice and I thought it went pretty well and now it’s a matter of how I feel tomorrow,” Ekholm said.

The 34-year-old has not played since April 11, when he was only able to play 1:52 in a 4-2 win against the San Jose Sharks. It was his first game after missing the previous seven games with an undisclosed injury, but he took just three shifts before leaving again.

The initial prognosis had Ekholm out for the entire postseason, which was seen as a massive blow to the Oilers, who are looking to get back to the Stanley Cup Final after losing in seven games to the Florida Panthers last season.

“It’s a tough diagnosis to get at the time,” he said. “I’m 35 soon (May 24) and still healing, so I guess that’s a good thing and I’m happy to be here now. I can’t rule anything out, I’m trying to be on a day-to-day basis and I’m happy that I’ve come this far.”

Ekholm is not expected to play in the first two games of the series in Dallas, and Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said he was uncertain if the veteran would travel with the team Tuesday.

Regardless, Knoblauch has been happy with the play of his defensemen during Ekholm’s absence.

Evan Bouchard (26:24 time on ice per game), Darnell Nurse (24:51), and Brett Kulak (24:15) are logging the majority of ice time on the back end, while Jake Walman (20:09) and John Klingberg (19:14) have developed great chemistry as a pair.

Ty Emberson (9:29) and Troy Stecher (16:32) have also played well, rotating into the lineup as the sixth defenseman.

“Going into the playoffs we had a lot of uncertainties,” Knoblauch said. “Jake Walman was coming back from an injury and hadn’t played very much, Klingberg wasn’t playing very much at the end of the season with injuries. I think when they were inserted into the lineup and they did come in, and they played very well. I think we have a lot of good players and are able to play more when called upon.”

Getting Ekholm back would be a big boost for the Oilers, even though they have fared well without him.

Edmonton eliminated the Los Angeles Kings in six games in the Western Conference First Round and the Vegas Golden Knights in five games in the second round.

The Oilers closed out the series against the Golden Knights with back-to-back shutouts by goalie Stuart Skinner.

In fact, since losing the first two games of the postseason to the Los Angeles Kings, the Oilers are allowing 2.44 goals per games, which is second only to the Carolina Hurricanes (2.00) since April 24.

“It would be massive, he’s been arguably our best defenseman for the last two or three years now,” Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl said. “Obviously, getting a guy like that back into the lineup, it’s hard to describe what he can do. He’s got to be healthy and well enough to play, but if we ever get to that point in the series, that would be huge for us.”

Ekholm is in his third season with the Oilers. He was acquired in a trade with the Nashville Predators on Feb. 28, 2023, and immediately helped solidify Edmonton's blue line.

Ekholm (6-foot-5, 225 pounds) has also been credited with helping Bouchard get to another level offensively. Ekholm’s defensive abilities have allowed Bouchard to play a bigger offensive role.

But Ekholm can contribute on the offensive end as well.

In 65 games this season, he had 33 points (nine goals, 24 assists). He had 10 points (five goals, five assists) in 25 playoff games last season while averaging 21:58 of ice time on the top pair with Bouchard.

“I think it (rehab) is going well,” Knoblauch said. “I think his mobility is pretty good considering how much time he’s had off and the type of injury that he had, so I think we’re off to a good start.”

Edmonton is not going to rush Ekholm back until he is fully fit to play, something it has the luxury of doing considering how well the defensive group is playing as a whole.

They will need to be good again to fend off the Stars, though, and in particular forward Mikko Rantanen, who leads all players in the postseason with 19 points (nine goals, 10 assists) in 13 games.

“I think they’ve done really, really well, playing fast, playing simple, moving pucks,” Ekholm said. “You look at our defensive numbers and how many goals we’ve let in, in the last few games, it’s been down and that’s a credit to our whole team, but I think our D-core has been very sound.”

Edmonton limited Vegas to 23 shots in a 3-0 win in Game 4, and 24 shots in a 1-0 overtime win to close out the series in Game 5.

Goalie Calvin Pickard started the second round series but was replaced by Skinner for Game 3 after sustaining a lower-body injury in a 5-4 overtime win in Game 2. Pickard is still day to day, and Skinner will get the start in Game 1 against the Stars.

“Obviously, there’s a lot of experience on that back end right now,” Ekholm said. “I love the way we’re playing and hopefully we can keep it going here.”