BLOG: Oilers hit the ice at Boston University for Wednesday's practice

BOSTON, MA - The Edmonton Oilers made their way to the campus of Boston University on Wednesday afternoon for practice at Agganis Arena, home of NCAA five-time national champions the Boston University Terriers.
Forward Evander Kane participated in full during the skate wearing a white top-six jersey and took line rushes alongside Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman, signalling that the 31-year-old could be ready to make his return from an nine-game absence on Thursday night against the Boston Bruins.
The winger has been out of the lineup with an upper-body injury since a 5-4 shootout loss to the New York Rangers back on Feb. 15 and has missed a total of 40 games this season when you factor in his lengthy 31-game, 10-week stint on the sidelines with a cut wrist sustained on Nov. 8 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Beyond his ability to deposit pucks into the back of the net for Edmonton, exemplified by his 13 goals in 15 playoff games last campaign, Woodcroft and his teammates have a firm understanding of what the Vancouver, BC product can bring to the lineup and the locker room when he's ready to return to action at any point during the final two games of this four-game road trip.
"I think I see a hockey player with great on-ice habits; someone that goes hard to the net, takes pride in his wall work, someone who's physical and someone who understands ways to change momentum in the game that have nothing to do with scoring a goal," Woodcroft said. "He's a real-valued member of our team."
Defenceman Mattias Ekholm has yet to share the ice as a teammate of Kane's with only four games as an Oiler under his belt, but has first-hand knowledge of the physicality, size, swagger and skill he possesses from many assignments trying to defend him as a member of the Nashville Predators.
"To state the obvious, he's a goalscorer and he's done this for years and he's really fast," he said. "He's a great forward, but as you're saying, he's a bit intimidating too for D-men to play against. He usually draws heavy matchups. I've drawn the heavy matchups for a bunch in my career, and I know usually those guys are the small, skilled guys, but here comes the guy that's your age, he's your height, he's your size. He's intimidating.
"That's usually what happens when you bring a guy like that into the lineup -- all the other guys grow a little bit, right? So just aside from what he does as a forward, I think that's the biggest thing."

The prestigious program at Boston University that competes in the NCAA's Hockey East conference has churned out NHL names like Jack Eichel, Kevin Shattenkirk, Chris Drury, Keith Tkachuk and Tony Amonte over its 105-year history, along with former Oilers Alex Chiasson, Mike Grier, Eric Gryba, Ryan Whitney and Tom Poti.
Agganis Arena was constructed in 2004 as the new home for the Terriers and has seen four Oilers currently on the roster come through at different points of their collegiate careers -- Zach Hyman (University of Michigan), Warren Foegele (University of New Hampshire), Devin Shore (University of Maine) and most recently, Vincent Desharnais (Providence College).
"I played against these guys once when I was in school and then practiced a couple of times here whenever we were in Boston," Hyman said. "It's always fun to visit college facilities, and they've got top-end facilities and a great gym."
Hyman, however, didn't want to sing the praises of the Terriers too loudly as a proud alumnus of the Michigan Wolverines, whom he represented in the Big-10 Conference from 2011-15.
"Ann Arbor is a place to be," he said with a smile.

With all the big venues that the Oilers play in around the NHL over the course of the season, Woodcroft is still able to find plenty of joy coming to smaller rinks around the League's 31 other cities for practice; especially Boston, an original-six side steeped in history that always has a buzz around it with its fanbase and media following.
The media contingent was heavy at Agganis Arena for Oilers practice on Wednesday with Connor McDavid in town, and the Terriers' men's hockey team was in the stands to take in Edmonton's skate.
"It is a great barn. There's a lot of history," Woodcroft said. "I think coming to Boston is, in itself, invigorating just with the passion people have here in Massachusetts for the game. The energy in our building today, you could feel it. There are lots of people here watching.
"They care about seeing the game's best player. They want to see him and how he practices, how he performs, and they want to see how the Edmonton Oilers go about their business. I think when you're in an environment that may be atypical, like a college arena, I think there are benefits to that."
Forward lines and defensive pairings at Wednesday's morning skate appeared as follows:
Forwards
Kane - McDavid - Hyman
Nugent-Hopkins - Draisaitl - Yamamoto
McLeod - Bjugstad - Foegele
Kostin - Ryan - Janmark/Shore
Defence
Nurse - Ceci
Ekholm - Bouchard
Kulak - Desharnais/Broberg
Goalies
Skinner
Campbell
Get all of the day's written and video content below:
WRITTEN
VIDEO
- PRACTICE | Terrier Town - RAW | Zach Hyman - RAW | Coach Woodcroft - RAW | Mattias Ekholm