EDMONTON, AB – The Viking is soon to be storming the shores of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Oilers Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said Friday morning the team expects defenceman Mattias Ekholm to make his 2025 post-season debut at some point during the Western Conference Final, which will start next week against either the Dallas Stars or Winnipeg Jets.
"He is day-to-day," Knoblauch said. "I'm not anticipating him being ready for Game 1 or 2, but we're optimistic that maybe sometime in this third round he will join us."
The veteran blueliner missed the team's final 11 contest of the regular season with the exception of the three shifts he played on April 11 against the San Jose Sharks before he exited that game and was shut down indefinitely.
The Swede, who's set to turn 35 on May 24, finished the 2024-25 campaign with nine goals and 24 assists in 65 games. Ekholm played all 25 playoff games for the Oilers last season, scoring five goals with five assists and a plus-nine rating while averaging 21:58 time on ice.
Knoblauch said the team doesn't expect him to jump right back into his usual workhorse role. Evan Bouchard (26:24), Darnell Nurse (24:51), Brett Kulak (24:15), Jake Walman (20:09) and John Klingberg (19:14) have all logged big minutes on the back end during Ekholm's absence.
"I think he'll be able to help us in some aspect immediately and then that'll be up to him," the bench boss said. "Fortunately, we've got a group of defencemen right now that are playing really well and we're not in dire need to insert him when he's not ready. But I think when he does play, he'll be beneficial for us."
The Oilers dialed in their defensive play to close out the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round, not allowing a goal in Games 4 or 5 with 3-0 and 1-0 shutouts to end the series.
