BLOG: Henrique looks ready, Kapanen injured as Oilers prepare to return following break

EDMONTON, AB – The pain is still fresh, but it’s time to focus on Oilers hockey.

The mood at Sunday’s practice after Canada’s 2-1 overtime defeat to the United States carried a visible air of sadness for the Canadian staff and players who watched their country – and their captain – come up just short of an Olympic triumph in the gold-medal game of Milano Cortina 2026 earlier in the morning.

McDavid set a new Olympic record with 13 points (2G, 11A) in five games, and his Oilers teammates and fans saw an even more determined No. 97 do on the international stage for his nation what he’s done for their club for years in the NHL – only for the result to once again elude him like they did during Edmonton's last two trips to the Stanley Cup Final.

• OLYMPICS: McDavid, Canada settle for silver in 2-1 overtime loss to United States

Despite the medal not being the one they hoped for, McDavid's teammates and coaches in Oil Country couldn’t be prouder of their enigmatic leader’s efforts in representing their club and showing the entire world why he's the most advanced player the game has ever seen, and they're excited to have him back.

“It’s heartbreaking,” said Adam Henrique, who represented Canada at the World Juniors in 2010 and two World Championships while serving as captain in their 2021 victory. “Watching teammates go for gold, it's more nerve-racking watching it all than having to play in it. But you certainly feel for those guys how much it means to them.”

“Your heart breaks for him. We know how much it means to him and how much he means to our team, but I think the world got a glimpse of how much he means to our group here. Certainly, all of Canada knows how much he meant to that team, and the rest of the world being able to see that is pretty special.”

Even Trent Frederic (who grew up with the Tkachuk brothers in St. Louis) wanted to see McDavid come home with the hardware, mentioning that he thought it should've been five-on-five in overtime to decide gold, but is nonetheless happy to see an exciting game and his team's captain come home unscathed.

"It's good that Connor stayed healthy the whole tournament," he said. "We were rooting for him to win it all, but he had a great tournament, and he should be proud of himself. You hope no one gets injured out there, especially him, but he had a great tournament, and hopefully, he can keep riding off that."

McDavid will link up with his teammates in Anaheim in the coming days, along with Leon Draisaitl who's fresh off representing Team Germany at the Olympics, for the start of Edmonton's three-game California road trip this coming week that starts with back-to-back games against the Ducks and Kings.

"I don't think they leave immediately, but I think his flight is tomorrow," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "And when he exactly joins the team, we'll have to have some conversations with him."

HENRIQUE LOOKS READY TO ROLL

Coach Knoblauch said after Sunday's skate at the Downtown Community Arena that forward Adam Henrique is "doing really well" and believes he could be ready to return for the Oilers on Wednesday against the Ducks for the start of their California three-game road trip coming out of the Olympic break.

Henrique hasn't played since playing only 2:26 in a win over the Nashville Predators back on Jan. 6 and missing the next 15 games due to injury, but the veteran forward has benefited from the extra time during the Olympic break to recover and get back into the lineup when play resumes on Wednesday.

"It's been good," Henrique said. "The timing of everything saved me a few weeks of missing more time, and to be able to skate before the break and get to a level where we were comfortable, then just trying to maintain that through the break has been great for getting up to speed.

"Getting back into practice, we're able to work on things in our game that we want to improve and work on all those little details all week while making sure we're practicing at a high level."

The Oilers started practicing last Wednesday with their first official skate of the Olympic break to get prepared for their final 24 games of the regular season, with players like Henrique who've remained in Edmonton focused on hitting their stride to help get the ball rolling again when NHL action returns.

"It's been nice to have the extra time when you're injured, but it gives you a chance, depending on where you're at, to reset, regroup and make sure you're ready to get back to work when the puck drops coming up. It's going to be a sprint to the finish here for us, so we got to be ready for that.

Despite missing McDavid and Draisaitl from their practice squad, Knoblauch said he was pleased with what he saw from the group over the past week as they look to elevate their game for the stretch drive and push for a Pacific Division title, trailing the Golden Knights by four points with one more game played.

"I thought it was a good week," Knoblauch said. "We had some focus points on things that we needed to work on to get better. We made some adjustments to our defensive structure, and I commend the guys. I thought they were really focused. I thought they worked really hard. We had longer practices, and I thought they were paying attention and working hard. I thought it was really productive."

KAPANEN CONCERN

With the anticipated return of Adam Henrique comes the expected subtraction of Kasperi Kapanen.

Coach Knoblauch followed up his positive update on Henrique with the unfortunate news that Kapanen has picked up another injury, described as "a little ailment" by the bench boss, and isn't expected to be a part of Edmonton's first two games against Anaheim and Los Angeles.

It's a disappointing development for the Finnish forward, who was playing well with two goals and an assist in his last four games before the break following a three-game absence that came after his lengthy two-month recovery from a different lower-body injury he sustained in October.

Knoblauch mentioned that it's a differnet injury than the one that kept him sidelined for 36 games in January and February.

"I'm not sure if he'll be ready for the first two games," Knoblauch said. "It might be later in the week, but he's feeling okay. Whether he's ready for these first two games after missing such a long time, I guess we'll find out, but right now we're thinking it's probably not going to be the first two games."