Oilers Activate Jason Dickinson

The Edmonton Oilers announced that veteran center Jason Dickinson has been activated off of injured reserve, clearing the way for him to play in tonight’s game against the Anaheim Ducks. In a corresponding move, Edmonton placed forward Colton Dach on IR.

The Oilers did not have an empty spot on their 23-man active roster, meaning the corresponding move to shift Dach to IR was necessary in order for the team to be able to bring Dickinson back into the fold. Dickinson will make his season debut tonight, playing in his first game since he signed a five-year, $4MM AAV contract extension with the club.

Dickinson was sidelined by an undisclosed injury. The club originally expected him to be available in time for their season opener, but on Sept. 28, head coach Mike Babcock informed the media that Dickinson had suffered a setback. The setback proved to be relatively minor, as he’s only missed three games of the Oilers’ season.

A 31-year-old veteran of over 550 NHL games, Dickinson is expected to play a key role in the Oilers’ middle six as a defensive specialist. While Dickinson did once score 22 goals as a member of the 2023-24 Chicago Blackhawks, he’s never hit double-digit goals in any other season in his NHL career. He’s only reached the 30-point plateau twice in his career.

But despite a very spotty record of offensive impact, Dickinson has long been relied upon by NHL coaches due to his defensive reliability. He finished 12th in Selke Trophy voting during his 2023-24 campaign, and has long played a regular role on NHL penalty kills. In his 17 regular-season games for the Oilers last season, Dickinson led all Edmonton forwards in short-handed time on ice per game. That remained the case in the playoffs, where Dickinson played through a lower-body injury. He should be expected to once again take on that role even under a new head coach.

Dickinson replaces Dach on the Oilers’ active roster, as Dach himself is sidelined with an undisclosed injury. The full nature or extent of Dach’s injury has not been announced or reported up to this point, but he will miss a minimum of one week as a result of his IR placement. The 23-year-old forward spent most of last season on LTIR with an undisclosed injury.