According to a couple of NHL insiders, Anton Slepyshev will miss training camp due to an ankle injury. Fortunately for the Edmonton Oilers, it looks like a short term issue. Let’s take a look.

As training camp quickly approaches, the Oilers will be taking a short term blow to their depth on the right side as Anton Slepyshev looks like a question mark for the home opener. As the year progressed, Slepyshev emerged as a formidable option on the wing for the Oilers, and it looks like he will be a fixture on the wing for the upcoming season.

While Slepyshev’s injury is not expected to be a long term concern, you just never know what can happen with ankle injuries. If the problem is a high-ankle sprain then the lingering effects could go on for weeks as we saw when Nail Yakupov got tackled by that linesman. Though the details on the injury and recovery timeline are spotty, it’s unfortunate that Slepyshev will have to miss training camp as a result. Even though missing training camp isn’t a huge deal in the grand scheme of things, it still means that Slepyshev will have to shake off some rust while other guys are already getting up to speed.

For a guy like Anton, you’d have to imagine that this injury is insanely frustrating as he’s still one of those guys that are trying to solidify their spot in the lineup. In the meantime, the group of Strome, Kassian, and Puljujarvi will have to manage without him. Then again, maybe it’s something like Slepyshev’s ankle tweak that keeps Draisaitl on the wing, a luxury that the Oilers have with their abundance of depth at centre.

Regardless of what happens, we’ll all have to send out our energy to Slepyshev’s bum ankle and hope for a speedy recovery.