Oilers’ Mattias Ekholm out at least one week with upper-body injury

Edmonton Oilers’ defenseman Mattias Ekholm will be out at least one week after he suffered an upper-body injury during Thursday’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes, head coach Mike Babcock told reporters after the game.

Ekholm, 36, was injured just seconds into the third period after Hurricanes’ forward William Carrier delivered a hit in the Oilers’ end. The Edmonton blueliner appeared to hit his head on the ice and was slow to get up, and his teammates helped him off the ice.

He finished the game with 14:16 of ice time, and the Oilers would defeat the Hurricanes 6-5 in a shootout. Both Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl recorded five points and factored in on all five of Edmonton’s goals.

McDavid now has 31 points and has become the fourth player in NHL history to register 30 points through the first 10 games of a season.

Ekholm, a native of Borlange, Sweden, has one goal and two assists for three points, and has averaged 21:45 of ice time through 10 appearances. Now in his 15th NHL season, the 6-foot-4 defender has 93 goals and 311 assists for 404 points in 976 career regular-season games with the Oilers and Nashville Predators.

He also has 13 goals and 47 assists for 60 points in 125 career Stanley Cup Playoff games. He was part of both of Edmonton’s Stanley Cup Final runs in 2024 and 2025, and was also part of the Predators’ 2017 appearance.

Ekholm is in the first season of a three-year contract extension signed in October 2025. He was acquired by the Oilers ahead of the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline.

The Oilers are now 8-1-1 through their first 10 games of the 2026-27 campaign.