Oilers place Savoie, Regula on LTIR; Nugent-Hopkins on IR

Some more bad news in Edmonton.

On Thursday, the Edmonton Oilers announced that forward Matthew Savoie and defenseman Alec Regula have both been placed on long-term injured reserve, while center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has been put on injured reserve.

Forward Josh Samanski has been called up from the Oilers’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors, under emergency conditions.

Nugent-Hopkins is dealing with a lower-body injury he suffered during practice on Monday and was a late scratch from the lineup ahead of Edmonton’s season opener Tuesday night against the Vancouver Canucks. It forced new head coach Mike Babcock to do some line juggling ahead of his first game with the Oilers, which saw the team come back from a 5-2 deficit, only to lose to the Canucks in overtime.

Babcock said he believes RNH will be out for about two weeks. Per the NHL’s IR rules, Nugent-Hopkins could return next Wednesday, when the Oilers visit the Anaheim Ducks. However, there’s a possibility that he could be out for at least the first six games of the year.

Regula and Savoie will be required to miss the first 10 games of the new season, at minimum. Regula hasn’t been in the lineup since Jan. 20 of last season, as he’s been trying to come back from an undisclosed injury. He didn’t start training camp on time, but has been skating for the past couple of weeks. Savoie was ruled out long-term by Babcock ahead of the first game of the year, noting that he’s over a month away from coming back. Like goaltender Frederik Andersen, the young winger is trying to get back into shape after suffering an injury during the offseason.

Samanski appeared in 24 regular-season games with the Oilers last season, his first pro campaign in North America, scoring two goals and four points, adding two points in the team’s first-round series against the Anaheim Ducks. He also had eight goals and 31 points in 45 contests with the Condors.

The Oilers will look for redemption against the Canucks on Thursday night in Vancouver.