The Edmonton Oilers are still alive in the 2025 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs, as they are about to see action in the Western Conference final against the Dallas Stars. That series is set to start on Wednesday at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, with the Oilers seemingly having the potential to get defenseman Mattias Ekholm back in action.

Ekholm has yet to play this postseason because of an undisclosed injury. However, there is a good sign that he could be back on the ice sooner rather than later, and potentially in the series opener against the Stars.

On Monday, the 34-year-old veteran blueliner reportedly went on a full skate with the main Oilers group, as noted by Ryan Rishaug of TSN.

The last time Ekholm hit the ice in an NHL game was back on April 11 versus the San Jose Sharks at home, where he logged only roughly two minutes of ice time. Before missing games, the Swedish NHL veteran had scored nine goals to go with 24 assists for a total of 33 points through 65 contests in the 2024-25 regular season.

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Despite missing Ekholm's services, the Oilers have managed to survive in the first two rounds of the playoffs. After missing the first two games of its date in the first round against the Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton racked up four straight victories to advance to the second round. The Oilers then eliminated the Vegas Golden Knights in just five games to book their tickets to the Western Conference Final.

Edmonton has reached this far in postseason play in large part because of the team's incredible 1-2 punch of Hart Memorial Trophy winners in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. So far in the playoffs, McDavid has three goals and 14 assists, while Draisaitl has five goals and 11 assists. Their goaltending has also shown up of late, particularly Stuart Skinner, who had two shutout performances to close out the Golden Knights series.

The Oilers and the Stars also met in the 2024 NHL playoffs in the same round, with Edmonton overcoming a 2-1 series deficit to reach the Stanley Cup Finals, where they lost in seven games to the Florida Panthers.