Does Mattias Ekholm know the lyrics to The Proclaimers’ hit I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles), aka the Da-Da-Dum song from those Scottish lads of yesteryear?

But I would walk five hundred miles
And I would walk five hundred more
Just to be the man who walked a thousand
Miles to fall down at your door

Maybe he’d need the karaoke prompter, but his body sure knows the dance. He knows the hard miles, wear and tear, and the physical toll that hockey at the highest level takes on the body.

Ekholm isn’t just a defenceman; he is truly the Northern Star for the Oilers’ defence corps since his arrival in 2023.

He is the janitor, the quicker-fixer-upper, the magic eraser of mistakes when Evan Bouchard’s controller gets unplugged on a mental lapse, or when Darnell Nurse drops to his knees to block a shot he’s never going to block.

A healthy Ekholm allows the rest of the defencemen to excel at what they’re best at.

The 35-year-old revealed the injury which plagued him throughout the second half of the season, eventually missing 17 regular season and 15 playoff games down the stretch.

“It was definitely a challenge that I’ve never had before in my career,” he told the media on Friday. “It was hard. But I mean, no excuse for it. I decided to play. I had a torn abductor. That’s usually a tough injury when he’s trying to skate.”

I hate injuries where you don’t know what the body part is. We’ve all learned the acronyms of ACLs and MCLs, we’re familiar with joints and ligaments, broken bones, and the like. But the abductor? Torn, you say? Apparently, this is in the gluteus minimus to the hip region. Sounds painful.

Ekholm is healed though and in his media avail, he made the prescient point about how taxing this upcoming season will be.

The grizzled rearguard has dual ambitions of not just Oilers success, but making Sweden’s Olympic team, something he admits he’s “dying to do.”

“There’s more games, more weigh[ing] on your body, more wear and tear. Last year, it was an exhibition, but we only flew to Montreal or Boston,” Ekholm said about the 4 Nations, in contrast to the upcoming Milano Olympics,” he told reporters.
“This time you’re flying to Italy, which is a lot longer, and that’s going to take some time to get into the time zones. I wouldn’t call that a disadvantage, because the Olympics is something that’s a great event. It’s something everybody wants to be a part of. But when you look at it from that side of things, yes, it weighs on your body.”

The Edmonton Oilers have played 211 games in the past two seasons. That’s another half of a season compared to the San Jose Sharks, for instance. Throw in the international competition, and this upcoming season will be a long one.

From a franchise perspective, it’s a terrific problem to have. Edmonton’s players are coveted for international competition because they’ve won eight rounds in the past four seasons and are knocking on the door for the holy grail.

But it is still a problem. Going to the Stanley Cup Final is not invite-only, nor do you get a bye for past success. Sure, it’s fashionable lately to make it to three Stanley Cup Finals in a row if you reside in Florida, but that’s the exception and not the rule.

The Oilers are the northern most professional sports team to boot, and will log another 54,426 miles, tops in the NHL in 2025-26.

To return to the Stanley Cup Final won’t be just about who the Oilers added. It’s about who they won’t lose.

It’s how they overcome bumps, bruises, or worse, over the course of 82 games, plus the most anticipated hockey tournament in 12 years, and will remain fresh enough to endure another long – hopefully – playoff run.

“I’m getting older. I’m not saying I’m gonna get hurt again or anything like that. But I do understand now – and it’s on me too – knowing that [if] you are going to play in all these games and all these events, you might take a practice off here and there,” Ekholm continued.
“You want to stay healthy too, and you want to stay fresh. Otherwise you can’t play at the top of your game. If you’re going to play all these games, then yeah, you’ve got to have to be smart about it.”

Now, Ekholm could make his nation’s top team or be passed on, as Sweden has a “stacked blueline.” He recognizes that.

But there is one more thing. It isn’t just Connor McDavid’s contract year, it’s Ekholm’s as well – his last chance at making big bucks.

And for a team that pays nearly $20 million to two other defencemen, for my money, he remains the most important blueliner on this cup-or-bust club.

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