EDMONTON — The perfect Masterton candidate, some bad news in the short term, but an overall positive picture on the Edmonton Oilers injury front.

Here are the game-day notes on an Oilers team that will, once again, play one skater short tonight.

With Ryan Nugent-Hopkins missing tonight’s game against the St. Louis Blues due to illness, Edmonton is without their top three centremen.

Most of the injured Oilers took part in the morning skate, and head coach Kris Knoblauch said all are still expected back in time to play games before the playoffs. That includes Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Mattias Ekholm and goalie Stuart Skinner, who is expected to start Friday night against San Jose.

“We expect to get everybody before the end of the season,” Knoblauch said. “Whether that’s in a couple games, or one of the last two games of the season.”

Trent Frederic (high ankle sprain) did not skate Wednesday. He had a doctor’s appointment on Tuesday, and Knoblauch will speak to his availability post-game tonight.

With centre Noah Philp up from Bakersfield, Edmonton’s lines tonight should look something like this:

Podkolzin-Philp-Arvidsson

It’s no surprise that Calvin Pickard won in a landslide vote by the Edmonton Chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association to represent the Oilers as their Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy nominee.

What better example of perseverance and dedication to the game than a guy who has his first 20-win season as a 32-year-old? Who’s played for seven organizations, didn’t play an NHL playoff game until last spring, and might just get some more starts this spring, depending on how Skinner’s game comes around?

“I’ve grinded for a little bit, up and down from the minors for years,” admits Pickard, who will start against the Blues tonight. “I got a really good opportunity here last year to come up (from Bakersfield, replacing Jack Campbell), and it’s been the time of my life being up here. I enjoy every day.”

It’s amazing to hear a seasoned pro speak like that. But you gain an appreciation for charter flights and NHL arenas when you’ve ridden as many busses and played in as many minor league barns as the Winnipeg-raised Pickard has.

“Every day, I’m excited to come to the rink. I’m proud to be in the NHL. So many people would want the gig I have, and I don’t take it for granted,” he promised. “I got signed here to be the No. 3 guy a few years back, but I never stopped believing. I knew I could play at this level. I got that opportunity, and it’s been good so far.”

They announced his nomination inside the Oilers dressing room before the morning meetings Wednesday, to a large round of applause. Pickard is, of course,  a well-liked teammate, something that has become a trademark over a decade in and around the NHL.

“It’s been honestly bothersome over the course my career, kind of getting labelled as a good guy backup,” he said after his 20th win in Vegas last week, against a Golden Knights team that took him No. 1 overall in its expansion draft back in 2017. “I’ve always wanted to be a good goaltender first, and then the fun guy part will take care of itself.

“But I’ve always believed in myself.”

With so many key players out, Edmonton is patching a lineup together and simply getting through the season day by day. With five games left, they’re up against the clock when it comes to honing in on a game that can beat Los Angeles again in Round 1.

You can’t hold a proper dress rehearsal when half the cast isn’t on stage.

“Finding out what our lines are going to be like. Who’s going to be playing together,” Knoblauch said. “Then finding our system, our structure. How we’re going to play heading into the playoffs.

“We want to get an idea of what our team is going to look like. How it’s going to play. And we’ve got so many guys that have not been playing last few weeks,” Knoblauch said. “We’ve got a lot of things to consider before we hit that really important time of the playoffs.”