BLOG: Yamamoto returns to skating with the group

EDMONTON, AB -Kailer Yamamoto skated with the team on Thursday for the first time since the Oilers Jan. 11 contest against the Anaheim Ducks.
The forward has been sidelined for the last two weeks with an undisclosed injury and was
placed on LTIR back on Jan. 17.
While the 24-year-old is not eligible to return to the Oilers line-up until Feb. 12, just being able to skate with the group was a positive step in the right direction for Yamamoto.
"It's amazing," Yamamoto said. "Anytime you're out for a while and then you get back on the ice with the guys, it's kind of just a relief you're back out there talking to them, chatting with them so it's really good."
"I thought it was a really good sign that he was on the ice and team practice," Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said about the winger's return. "He didn't partake in every drill, but it was it's a good sign and step forward for him, which I thought was positive."

The 2022-23 season has been one to forget so far for Yamamoto. The former first-round pick game into the season fresh off a strong year where he had recorded 40 points (20G, 20A) in 81 games for the Oilers, along side seven points (2G, 5A) in 14 playoff games.
Yamamoto has missed 19 games this season due to three separate injury stints if you include his absence in the season opener. Unfortunately for Yamamoto, his injury coincided with the Oilers finding their team game as the Blue & Orange have gone 5-0-1 without him in the lineup. The run has made watching from the sidelines even harder over the last two weeks.
"Yeah, it's frustrating. Anytime you're not playing, it's tough. You want to be out there battling with the guys that you see every day, so it's tough (watching from off the ice), but at the end of the day, it is what it is and you just kind of keep looking at it day-by-day and not getting too frustrated," Yamamoto said.

As seen with Evander Kane being around the team prior to returning from his wrist injury, the Oilers head coach prefers to keep injured players around the team and around the action to keep them engaged in what is a long season.
"We encourage even the guys that are far away from returning to be around, sit in on some meetings and that type of thing to keep the brain turned on as much as anything else and help people feel attached to it," Woodcroft said. "We've had some talk recently in this room, and certainly the other night, just about the mental side of stuff and it's important that people know that just because you're injured, doesn't mean you're not part of the group. You are part of the group, and you're valued, and most important thing is to make sure that you return healthy."
The Oilers and Yamamoto will have to remain patient. A return cannot happen earlier than Feb. 12 due to the National Hockey League's rules surrounding LTIR, so Yamamoto and his 12 points (4G, 8A) in 31 games will have to bide his time. It's a long season, and the Oilers are hoping for it to be even longer than last year's Western Conference Final run, so the plan for Yamamoto is to take it slow and steady over the next few weeks.
"(I'm just going to) skate and stay with the team," he said. "I think every day I've been feeling a lot better, so just rehab, skate, and just keep working until the 12th.