BLOG: Dickinson nearing return after battling through challenging recovery

EDMONTON, AB – Getting ‘one percent closer’ took on a new meaning for forward Jason Dickinson this past summer as the veteran works to reach full health and make his season debut on the Oilers’ upcoming three-game road trip to California.

The 31-year-old skated between Trent Frederic and Kasperi Kapanen on the second line during Monday’s practice at the Downtown Community Arena, with his teammates and Head Coach Mike Babcock hoping he’ll be ready to return on Wednesday when the Oilers open their first extended road trip of the season against the Ducks.

“I'm sure hoping so,” Babcock said. “The biggest thing is when you miss training camp, everyone else is flying now compared to when they were three weeks ago, and you're in mud, right?  So it's a battle on your way back, and that's why you hope you're healthy all the time and you never have to go through this.  But he's a good pro and knows how to play, so that's going to help him.”

Dickinson has endured a challenging recovery from a nagging ankle injury he sustained late in the 2025-26 campaign on Apr. 8 against San Jose, resulting in him missing the rest of the regular season and being limited to four playoff appearances – scoring twice in Game 1 of their first-round series with the Ducks, including the overtime winner.

Over the summer, Dickinson said his recovery progress was often met with long stretches of no real improvement, pushing back his timeline to return for the start of the regular season.

Admittedly, he said he never got close to considering himself fully healthy, but after solid progress over the past month, the Georgetown, Ont. product says he’s reached a point where he feels ready to contribute for the Oilers on this upcoming road trip.

“If I'm being totally honest, I never quite got to 100 percent over the summer,” he said. “I was making jumps, but it felt like every jump I made, I would plateau for a couple of weeks. There was one where I just couldn't make another jump, so I spent a month trying to figure out what wasn't working, what I was compensating for, and why I wasn't getting the reactions I needed out of my ankle. We spent a good month here figuring that out.”

Dickinson missed training camp for the first time in his career, setting himself back in conditioning while also having to catch up with his teammates on learning the tactics and approach of a new bench boss in Babcock.

After building himself up to being ready for real-game action, Dickinson is poised to find that extra percent to be back in an Oilers uniform on a regular basis this year.

"It's definitely a bit of a process," he said. "There's nothing quite like game shape, so as much as you bag skate, as much as you get on the bike, you can't quite replicate it, so you just have to get into it. It's been a good few weeks of getting my legs going and getting back up to pace, but I'm ready to get going."