The Edmonton Oilers will be without forwards Noah Philp and Curtis Lazar for the remainder of their seven-game road trip, head coach Kris Knoblauch confirmed after the team’s morning skate in Washington. Needless to say, the injuries are starting to pile up around here.

According to a tweet from Bob Stauffer on Twitter/X, both Noah Philp and Curtis Lazar are dealing with upper-body injuries and will be unavailable for the next few games at least. As we know, the Oilers are grinding through their seven-game road trip out east and are already missing Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Kasperi Kapanen, so adding two more names to the pile comes at a terrible time. With the Oilers tight to the salary cap, Stauffer added that the team will run an 11-forward, seven-defenceman lineup rather than making a recall from Bakersfield.

Philp has two goals and one assist through 15 games this season, settling into a depth role that has seen him rotate between the fourth and press box. He logged 6:23 of ice time and finished at minus-one in Monday’s loss to the Sabres, though I don’t recall an injury coming up during the broadcast. Lazar has one goal in nine games and has been used primarily as a checking forward and penalty killer. He played 9:03 on Monday in Buffalo, posting a minus-two rating with one shot on goal. Losing both players wipes out two regulars from Edmonton’s bottom six, a group that was already struggling to generate much of anything. Their absences leave the Oilers thin up front and limit Kris Knoblauch’s options as the road trip winds down.

At Wednesday’s morning skate, the Oilers adjusted their lineup to deal with these latest injuries. Jack Roslovic skated on the first line with Connor McDavid and Matthew Savoie, while Andrew Mangiapane moved to right wing alongside Leon Draisaitl and Vasily Podkolzin. On the third line, Zach Hyman slotted in with Adam Henrique and Trent Frederic, while Mattias Janmark and David Tomasek operated as the two extra forwards. On the blue line, the blender was also out as Darnell Nurse skated with Evan Bouchard, Mattias Ekholm was paired with Brett Kulak, and Jake Walman lined up beside Alec Regula, with Ty Emberson serving as the extra defenceman.

The Oilers face the Washington Capitals tonight before closing out the season-long road trip with stops in Tampa Bay on Thursday and Florida on Saturday.