Jordan Eberle out 4-6 weeks for Oilers, who can’t have nice things

When Edmonton Oilers winger Jordan Eberle was injured in Tuesday night’s exhibition game vs. the Arizona Coyotes, the initial reaction was that it could be something significant.

Then it was downgraded to “day to day” with further evaluation, even as Eberle had his arm in a sling after the game following an awkward hit into the end boards from Kyle Chipchura.

On Wednesday, we were back at “significant”: Eberle will miss 4-6 weeks with a shoulder injury, as confirmed by the Oilers.

Here's the play:

Eberle’s a 60-point winger whose overall game won’t be replaced. So what do the Oilers do in the short-term for a winger to play with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins?

The names being thrown around include Nail Yakupov, Anton Slepyshev, Teddy Purcell and most interestingly Leon Draisaitl. Jonathan Willis from Cult of Hockey handicaps the field:

Teddy Purcell. The veteran isn’t popular with fans after a tough 2014-15 campaign, and he’s been banged up early in training camp to boot. He has played tough minutes in the past, though, and would be a logical candidate for Nugent-Hopkins’ wing if that line is used for more difficult assignments.

Leon Draisaitl. The big German has had success at right wing in camp, and spent a lot of time with Hall and McDavid. He could easily find himself starting there when Game 1 of the regular season rolls around.

Nail Yakupov. The first overall pick in 2012 has largely been kept with Lander on the third line, and the coaching staff may want to keep him at left wing if possible. He’s struggled in the past with Nugent-Hopkins and probably stands a better chance of playing with McDavid if he ends up in the top-six.

Willis is actually fond of Mark Letestu being a potential solution here as well.

As we said last night, injuries affect every team but it just sucks that the Oilers can’t get off the blocks like they’d like to, considering all the good vibes heading into this season. Hopefully this doesn’t put them in a hole during the first 4-6 weeks of the season. Well, OK, a deeper hole.

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