Oilers lose speed and forecheck as forward is expected to miss a week

The word out is Kasperi Kapanen is expected to miss about a week with an undisclosed issue.

That is a tough one because he finally looked like a useful piece again, not just a warm body on the wing.

He is 29, drafted in 2014 round 1 pick 22 by the Pittsburgh Penguins, and Edmonton has leaned on his speed in short bursts.

Through 13 games this season, he has 3 G, 6 A, 9 P, and he is sitting at 14:16 TOI per night.

Zoom in a bit and the timing gets even worse, his last 10 games show 3 G and 7 points.

That kind of bottom six pop matters when your top guys are already chewing up hard matchups.

If Kapanen is out for a week, the ripple is mostly about who climbs a line and who has to take the ugly shifts.

That usually means more work for the veteran utility forwards, and a little less margin for error between the pipes.

The man advantage probably stays the same, he has not been a power play driver, but the even strength rotation gets tighter.

One week also screams short term patchwork, not a clean LTIR runway, so expect the roster to look awkward.

Oilers fans finally felt the bottom six settle, so this news stings more than it should.

The big thing with Kapanen is pace, he can force rushed exits and turn a boring shift into a forecheck win.

If Edmonton is playing a heavy schedule this week, the coaching staff will need to pick their spots and protect the last change when they can.

It also puts the spotlight on the next call up option, because one more tweak up front and you are scraping lines.

When he comes back, watch if the staff keeps him in that same role or slides him down to ease the minutes.

For now, it is just another reminder that depth is only depth until the next guy gets nicked.