Leon Draisaitl’s regular season is over.
The Edmonton Oilers announced Tuesday afternoon in a media release the star centre will miss the remaining 14 games on their National Hockey League schedule after he was hurt during action on the weekend.
Draisaitl was hurt on a check by Nashville Predators forward Ozzy Wiesblatt in the first period of the Oilers’ eventual 3-1 win at Rogers Place. He didn’t return.
The 30-year-old, a former league scoring champ and most-valuable player, sits fourth in NHL scoring with 35 goals and 62 assists for 97 points in 65 games played heading into Edmonton’s home date Tuesday against the San Jose Sharks. Fellow star teammate Connor McDavid leads the league in scoring with 114 points (37 goals, 77 assists) in 68 games.
Head coach Kris Knoblauch told reporters in the morning he and his staff are formulating a plan to ice a lineup without Draisaitl.
Vasily Podkolzin saw time in the star’s usual power-play ‘office’ along the goal line to the right of the opponents’ net Sunday in Nashville after he left the game, but Knoblauch said the Oilers will use a “trial and error” approach on the power play minus the key cog on the league’s top unit with the man advantage.
“We’re going to play around with it,” Knoblauch told reporters after his team’s morning skate ahead of the 7:08 p.m. game at Rogers Place.
“The importance of winning that faceoff is part of it, but (also) having the best five guys and who’s going to work together. We have a lot of good power play guys that can play it, but it’s just who’s going to work well and move and read the play as well to know what (Connor) McDavid is doing and (Evan) Bouchard, and (Zach) Hyman at the net.”
Forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, also an Oilers first-unit power-play fixture, says there’s little doubt they’ll be missing Draisaitl on special teams for several reasons, including his elite playmaking abilities.
We’re going to miss that big piece, but we have enough skill to be able to take advantage of opportunities and create some good looks.
— Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
“We’ve got to find a way to get pucks back,” Nugent-Hopkins said. “There’s going to be a little more battling and winning those puck battles. I thought we actually did a pretty good job against Nashville, once Leo was out, of getting pucks back and creating space off of that or creating opportunities. That’s going to be really important ...
“We’re going to miss that big piece, but we have enough skill to be able to take advantage of opportunities and create some good looks. It’s going to be a little more work-based and shooting the puck a little bit more, probably, and working off that.”
Draisaitl’s absence sees Josh Samanski slide into the pivot role between his usual wingers, Podkolzin and Kasperi Kapanen. Max Jones draws in to replace Samanski on the fourth line alongside centre Adam Henrique and Trent Frederic.
Edmonton is in a playoff position but have plenty of competition nipping at their heels as they try to make the NHL post-season for the seventh season in a row and attempt another run at the Stanley Cup Final, which they reached the last two campaigns only to fall to the Florida Panthers.
The Oilers (33-26-9) sit third in the Pacific Division standings heading into Tuesday’s game, four points ahead of the Seattle Kraken, who occupy the final wildcard playoff spot in the Western Conference. The division rival Los Angeles Kings and Sharks are four and five points behind the Oilers, respectively.
The Anaheim Ducks (37-27-3) lead the Pacific with 77 points, while the Vegas Golden Knights (31-22-14) are second with 76 points.
