Oilers Lose 2 Defencemen To Injuries

A lot has been going on with the Edmonton Oilers' defence lately. Not only have bad giveaways plagued the last two games, but the defence in general has not been good. On top of all of that, two of the defenders will miss some time with injuries. Ryan Murray will miss a month with a back injury while Philip Broberg will be out 2-3 weeks with an ankle injury.

The Oilers just recently recalled Markus Niemelainen and signed Jason Demers to a two-way contract. Both of these moves definitely have something to do with the team losing their sixth and seventh defencemen.

Broberg has been playing more than Murray since being recalled a while ago. Broberg has one assist in 11 games and has been paired with Evan Bouchard primarily on the third pairing playing only 12:24 per game. Murray was playing more earlier in the season in that same spot and has three assists in 13 games while averaging 13:07 per game.

Niemelainen will be playing on the third pair for the time being and the Oilers will be able to get a good look at the 6-foot-6 defenceman who plays a physical game. Opportunity knocks for him once again and he could take advantage like he did last season. Demers is an option if things go south quickly for the Oilers and Niemelainen while Broberg and Murray recover.

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