The Oilers Just Lost a Player They Probably Needed

Sometimes the injury news that looks the smallest on paper isn't necessarily the smallest problem. That's where the Edmonton Oilers are with Jason Dickinson. Dickinson will miss Opening Night, and right now he's sidelined indefinitely with an undisclosed injury. That's not exactly the kind of headline that makes you panic if you're an Oilers fan.

He's not Connor McDavid. He's not Leon Draisaitl. And he's not Evan Bouchard. But the Oilers didn't acquire Dickinson because they needed another scorer. They brought him in because he could do some of the dirty work. He was expected to play in the bottom six, take key penalty-killing minutes, and add size and defensive responsibility for Edmonton.

And now he's not there.

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Dickinson’s absence could matter more than the numbers suggest.

Dickinson has reached 30 points twice in his career, but nobody in Edmonton is expecting him to become a 30-goal guy. The point is that teams need players who can handle other tasks on the ice. He can help with penalty killing, faceoffs and defensive-zone work. Killing a couple of minutes when the stars need a breather. Taking some of the heavy lifting away from McDavid and Draisaitl.

Those players don't always show up in the box score. And that's why this one catches my attention. Edmonton was already dealing with some questions on the bottom end of its forward group. Matt Savoie and Mattias Janmark were expected to miss the start of the season, and both had been viewed as useful penalty killers. Now Dickinson is out too.

Injuries are starting to look like a pattern for the Oilers.

That's starting to look like a pattern, not just one guy missing a couple of games. The Oilers can certainly survive it. Josh Samanski or Owen Michaels could get an opportunity while Dickinson is out. And maybe one of those young guys grabs the job and doesn't give it back. But that's the optimistic way of looking at it.

But there is another way to look at it. Edmonton has spent a lot of time building a team around its big stars. That's fine. But come playoff time, the teams that survive usually need players who can win a defensive-zone faceoff, kill a penalty, protect a lead and survive the ugly minutes. Dickinson was supposed to help with exactly that.

Dickinson being out isn't an Oilers disaster. But it’s not good news either.

The big boys will get most of the attention when Edmonton starts the season. But if you’re an Oilers fan, you should be watching the guys underneath the Oilers’ big guns. That's often where hockey games get won.

The stars will get the headlines. The bottom six might decide how much help those stars get. The bottom line is that Dickinson will be missed.

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