The Edmonton Oilers announced that Taylor Hall will miss two-to-four weeks with an MCL sprain.
This backs up an earlier report that Hall, 22, would be out longer than day-to-day but isn’t dealing with a long-term issue.
Considering how frightening his crash into the Vancouver Canucks’ net was on Saturday night, missing a few weeks certainly isn’t the worst-case scenario:
Edmonton already seemed likely to hit some highs and lows in November, but with Hall out possibly the entire month, it could be a rough time for a team that’s battling to move away from “cellar dweller” status.
Hall has been his usually productive self in 2014-15, scoring six goals and 10 points in 11 games while sending 36 shots on goal.
Oilers fans are uncomfortably familiar with the downsides of his all-out style. He’s never topped the career-high 75 games he played last season, as he was limited to 65 in 2010-11 and 61 in 2011-12 (he played all but three games in the lockout-abbreviated 2013-14 season, though).
The only minor silver lining for Edmonton is that the Oilers are fairly deep at wing. Early on, it looks like Nail Yakupov might get a big opportunity, but David Perron, Benoit Pouliot and Teddy Purcell rank among the players who could conceivably handle a promotion for at least a short amount of time.