Yamamoto has missed the last eight games with an upper-body injury but will play Wednesday in Vancouver. Yamamoto will replace Ty Rattie on the Oilers’ second line but has just one goal on 12 shots and one assist in 13 games this season.
Yamamoto has been a healthy scratch for the last three games but is expected to replace Jesse Puljujarvi in the lineup on Tuesday. Yamamoto has just one goal, one assist and 12 shots on goal in 11 games this season.
Yamamoto had been skating on the Oilers’ first line, but will be a healthy scratch vs. the Blackhawks. Drake Caggiula will replace him on the first line and Jesse Puljujarvi will draw-in on the third line.
Yamamoto was this summers No.22 overall selection in 2017 and appeared in nine games with the Oilers but has been sent back to Spokane before the first year of his entry-level kicks in. Yamamoto got some great experience and recorded three assists in those nine games. He goes back to Spokane where he amassed 99 points (42G / 57A) in 65 games last season.
Yamamoto is undersized (5-foot-8/153 lbs.) but makes up for it with exceptional speed and elusiveness. In his third season with the Spokane Chiefs (WHL), Yamamoto led the team in goals (42), assists (57) and points (99).
