Edmonton Oilers centre Ryan Nugent-Hopkins skated with the team at practice Tuesday for the first time since getting injured in early January.

Nugent-Hopkins was placed on injured reserve with cracked ribs after taking a big hit from Vegas Golden Knights' Brayden McNabb on Jan. 13.

The original timeline for Nugent-Hopkins' injury was 5 to 6 weeks. It will be exactly six weeks since the injury on Saturday when the Oilers take on the Los Angeles Kings.

Oilers head coach Todd McLellan said Tuesday, however, that Nugent-Hopkins "will be a March player."

The Oilers host the Boston Bruins Tuesday night and the Colorado Avalanche Thursday, which McLellan said is a potential return date for injured defenceman Andrej Sekera.

Sekera, 31, has been out since Feb. 9 when he took a puck to the face. He has one assist in 18 games this season. He missed Edmonton's first 34 games of 2017-18 to recuperate from surgery after tearing the ACL in his left knee during last season's playoffs.

Nugent-Hopkins has 16 goals and 15 assists in 46 games for the Oilers this season.