From bad to worse.

The injury bug has bitten the Edmonton Oilers hard in recent weeks and months, and the latest blow could be the most devastating yet, as the team could be without Mattias Ekholm for the remainder of their season.

This, according to TSN’s Ryan Rishaug, who reported the news Saturday a day after Ekholm returned from injury against the San Jose Sharks, only to leave the game after taking three shifts.

Rishaug posted on X that while further tests need to be done, Ekholm’s season could be done. A “best case scenario,” he said, would be the defenceman being sidelined for “quite some time.”

The Oilers, meanwhile, recalled Cam Dineen and Derek Ryan from the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors, as Ekholm wasn’t the only player banged up Friday. Zach Hyman left the game in the second period with an undisclosed injury and didn’t return.

Ekholm has dealt with issues throughout the year, most notably an illness that hampered his play for much of the season, but it didn’t hold him back from representing Sweden at the 4-Nations Face-Off. Recently, he’s been out of the lineup since the Oilers’ 4-3 loss to the Dallas Stars on March 26th, dealing with an undisclosed injury.

Nonetheless his absence from the lineup is a notable as he’s been a jack-of-all-trades for the team since the Oilers acquired him in February 2023. With him out of the lineup, Darnell Nurse, Evan Bouchard and Brett Kulak’s ice-time have all significantly increased, and in the last week, in games against the Sharks and St. Louis Blues, the Oilers have had to run with just five defencemen with Jake Walman dealing with an injury.

With the Oilers already absent Walman, Leon Draisaitl, Evander Kane, Trent Frederic, and John Klingberg, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins due to illness over the last two games and now Hyman, Edmonton’s roster is getting thinner and thinner by the day.

The Oilers will limp towards the playoffs with their three final regular season games this week, visiting the Winnipeg Jets Sunday, hosting the Los Angeles Kings Monday, and visiting San Jose next Wednesday.

Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter, currently known as X, at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.