We had quite a bit of injury rumblings this past week involving a number of different players. Obviously with us sort of in a playoff race, the injuries are not ideal.

I don’t need to remind you that Conor McDavid sat out of Tuesday night’s game due to illness. The day prior to the game, he sat at a table in West Edmonton Mall for two hours signing hundreds, if not thousands, of autographs. Coincidence? I think not. But there were video clips of him using a giant container of hand sanitizer throughout the day, so it’s tough to tell what really got him sick. Anyways, even though we’re at a crucial part of the season, I’m happy to see they’re not risking McDavid’s health by pushing him through these illnesses. We all know he played sick for several weeks last year and you don’t need to be a doctor to know that a human being shouldn’t do that. Connor’s healthy again now, but that doesn’t matter as he’s currently serving a two-game suspension he received during his first game back from his illness on Thursday night.

Matt Benning was another name we discussed in last weeks injury report. Benning was placed on the IR briefly last weekend when the Oilers acquired Sam Gagner. Benning was banged up, but part of me wants to say it was more of a roster move in order to clear room to bring Gagner up to the big leagues. Benning was back in the lineup for Tuesday’s night game, so obviously he didn’t have anything too major wrong with him.

Jujhar Khaira injured himself during the February 15th game against the Hurricanes. He was placed on the Injury Reserve on February 18th when Andrej Sekera was activated. It’s unclear what exactly happened to Khaira, but he’s listed as a lower-body injury. He was in and out of the lineup throughout the end of January, so maybe a nagging injury has finally caught up to him? Ken Hitchcock stated on Thursday that Khaira is expected to be out for approximately two weeks. There are rumours circling that Khaira might have a hairline fracture. Due to the imminent playoff race, hopefully he recovers quickly from whatever mystery injury he has and is back in the lineup asap.

Jesse Puljujarvi has been making headlines the last couple of days due to his current injury situation. Let’s break it down: A week ago, Jesse Puljujarvi’s agent went on the record to say that having Jesse sent down to the AHL isn’t ideal for his client and that they’re not interested in going down that route at all. Normally when a players agent gets involved with the media, it’s not a good thing. Even the carpet in my apartment realizes that Puljujarvi playing in the AHL while Bakersfield gets ready for their playoff run is the best thing for him. With his agent saying the opposite of that, controversy arose.

After participating in warmup, Puljujarvi was scratched during the February 16th game against the Islanders. All arrows were pointing towards him being sent down after the game but THEN, reports came out that he suffered a lower-body injury on the road trip, and needs some rest. The initial news on his injury was that it was minor and that he shouldn’t be out for too long.

After missing another game, news broke yesterday that Jesse Puljujarvi’s injury may be more concerning than initially let on. News broke again that he is opting to get a second opinion on his injury by another doctor provided by the NHL. Because of this decision, Puljujarvi will miss the cut-off to be sent down to the AHL, and will no longer be able to join the Condors playoff run. Admittedly, it’s very suspicious timing that favours Puljujarvi’s camp, and the rumours online quicly spread like a wildfire.

Obviously, it’s fun to speculate, but I’m of the opinion that this is just a major coincidence. Puljujarvi’s first consultation from a doctor involved surgery, so I understand why Puljujarvi would want to get a second opinion to avoid going down that road. Either way, Jesse’s timeline for return is looking longer and longer. He will see the second doctor on Tuesday so we will hear an update then, but at the moment, it’s looking dim that he may return this season. There have been rumblings that his injury may involve his knee, but that is pure speculation at this time. Get well soon, Jesse!

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