The Edmonton Oilers hit the ice at Rogers Place Monday morning bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for a skate before taking on the Florida Panthers.

It’ll mark the first time the two teams met since Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals last season, but we’re not talking about that anymore.

Evan Bouchard was absent from Monday’s skate, but it was just a maintenance day for the defenceman, who is slated to man his normal spot on the Oilers top pair alongside Mattias Ekholm. Bouchard was shaken up after getting hit hard by Ryan Hartman late in last Thursday’s game against the Minnesota Wild. He drew in for Saturday’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights looking no worse for wear, firing four shots on goal and blocking four more en route to the Oilers’ 6-3 win.

During Monday’s skate, Viktor Arvidsson was a placeholder for Bouchard getting his first skate with the team since he was injured on October 19th against the Ottawa Senators. He had hit the ice last week on his own, but Monday’s appearance marked a promising step in his recovery. According to Oilersnation’s Jason Gregor, Arvidsson might be ready to draw back into the lineup for Thursday’s game against the Boston Bruins.

Getting Arvidsson back would be great for the Oilers, though his void in the top-six has been filled admirably, most recently by Kasperi Kapanen, who the team claimed on waivers in November. The trio of Vasily Podkolzin, Leon Draisaitl and Kapanen have played just 51 minutes together at five-on-five in what’s been a small but dominant amount of ice time.

When together, they’ve controlled 61 percent of the shot attempt share, 61.1 percent of the scoring chance share, 62.2 percent of the expected goal share all the while outscoring the opposition 3-1. Given that it would be smart for the team to make sure Arvidsson was fully healthy, and doubly so considering the way Zach Hyman has roared back from his injury, now scoring five goals in his last five games since he was banged up.

While there’s no pressure on Arvidsson to generate such offence in his return, he is someone whose offensive game was struggling early this season. In his 16 games prior to injury, Arvidsson had scored just two goals and five points, taking just 70 shots on goal. All those averaged into per game rates are well below where he’s been in recent years, so getting him back firing as he had with the Los Angeles Kings in recent years will be key for the team.

Puck drop against the Panthers is set for 6:30 p.m. MST, with the Oilers expected to roll the same lines and pairings as they did against Vegas on Saturday.

Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist, making up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.

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