How Bad Is Khabibulin's Injury?

Nikolai Khabibulin is not in good shape. His back has been nagging him on and off for the last few days and the flare-ups are enough that the Oilers have decided to call up Devan Dubnyk from the AHL team.

Dubnyk, 23, has been sharp in the 18 games he has appeared in this season with a 9-8-1 record, 2.77 GAA and a .924 SV%, but he's no Khabibulin. Apparently, neither is Jeff Deslauriers, whom after speculation that he wasn't getting enough time to shine has been shaky in his last two performances.

News that Khabibulin may not be ready for Mondays game doesn't help matters much. Especially when victories for the Oilers seem hard to come by and every point in this difficult five game homestand count big time.

The good news, is that Khabibulin seems to think his back problems are not serious. Still, no official news has come out to the severity or an estimation about how much time he could possibly miss. Calling up Dubnyk tells us that the Oilers are concerned it could be a bit more serious than they'd hoped.

Is it long enough that the Oilers would consider trade possibilites to fill that number one position? No. Is it a major concern for a team that is now 9-11-3? Of course.

Deslauriers is expected to get the nod on Monday. I would guess that is the case even if Khabibulin says he's ready to go.