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Leon Draisaitl is expected to miss the rest of the NHL regular season because of a lower-body injury, the Edmonton Oilers said Tuesday, leaving the back-to-back defending Western Conference champions left to try to hold on to a playoff spot without one of the best hockey players in the world.
He will miss at least the remaining 14 games through April 16.
It was not immediately clear exactly what the injury was or whether Draisaitl will miss any time once the playoffs begin the weekend of April 18-19.
Draisaitl left his team’s game Sunday against Nashville after getting bumped hard by the Predators’ Ozzy Wiesblatt during the first period. He did not return.
The Oilers after winning that game sat in third place in the Pacific Division, one point back of Vegas and two behind Anaheim, though the Golden Knights and Ducks each have an extra game left to play.
Draisaitl has been a big part of getting Edmonton to this point. The 30-year-old ranks fourth in the league in scoring with 97 points in 65 games, second on the team behind only Connor McDavid, atop the NHL with 114 points
Draisaitl won the Hart Trophy as MVP in 2020 and was the runner-up last season. Last month, he played at the Olympics and was Germany’s leading scorer with seven points in five games.
Draisaitl is the second prominent player to be sidelined for the rest of the regular season. Toronto’s Auston Matthews won’t play again because of a torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee.
