Walman, Frederic skate at Oilers' practice
Published
Edmonton Oilers defenceman Jake Walman and forward Trent Frederic were on the ice ahead of the team's practice on Friday, per The Athletic's Daniel Nugent-Bowman.
As Nugent-Bowman reports, Walman skated in the second defensive pairing in the practice session, while Frederic participated wearing a blue sweater.
Walman, 29, has been out since April 7 with an undisclosed injury, while the 27-year-old Frederic has been out since April 5 with an ankle problem.
Walman and Frederic were two of the Oilers' major acquisitions at this year's trade deadline in March but injuries have been an issue.
The Oilers sent a 2026 conditional first-round draft pick to the San Jose Sharks to acquire Walman, who has a goal and eight points in 15 games in Edmonton, while they parted with forward prospect Shane Lachance to acquire Frederic from the Boston Bruins in a three-team deal.
In 50 games with the Sharks prior to the trade, Walman was putting together a career-best season with six goals and 32 points.
Frederic has played just a single game with the Oilers since he was acquired via trade, logging just over seven minutes of ice time in a 3-0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on April 5.
The St. Louis native was dealing with an upper-body injury when Edmonton acquired him, but suffered a separate injury upon making his debut with the Oilers.
The Oilers' outlook for their first-round series against the Kings is clouded by injuries, as superstar forward Connor McDavid has played sparingly down the stretch - though he did log 17:31 minutes of ice time in the season finale on Wednesday - and top defenceman Mattias Ekholm has been ruled out.
McDavid took exception to the idea that the team may struggle because of injuries.
"I don’t like the theory that people are counting us out,” he said Tuesday, per NHL.com. “We’re a great team here. We’ve had bumps and bruises along the way here, but we’re a dangerous team when we’re rolling and we’re healthy. I think you’ll see that over the next little while and we’re looking forward to showing that.”
The Oilers and Kings get their series underway Monday in Edmonton.