Devastating Oilers News on Leon Draisaitl

 

A shocking announcement from the Edmonton Oilers, who have declared Leon Draisaitl out for the remainder of the regular season. 

Statement re: #Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl https://t.co/u6HoSaaYQO

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) March 17, 2026

Draisaitl was injured when he was taken into the boards by the player bench this past weekend by the Nashville Predators' Ozzy Wiesblatt. His right hip appeared to take the brunt of the damage. It's being called a lower-body injury. 

It's a stunning revelation, as head coach Kris Knoblauch told the media yesterday that he thought Drai could miss "a game, maybe two" but he wasn't sure just how long. 

Needless to say, this is a huge loss for the Oilers, who are fighting for their lives in the tight Pacific Division, and only four points away from losing a playoff spot altogether. The Oil trail the first-place Anaheim Ducks by two points, and second-place Vegas Golden Knight by one point, though both of those teams hold a game in hand. Edmonton has 75 points, while the final Wild Card spot is right now held by the Seattle Kraken and Los Angeles Kings, each with 71 points. 

The Oilers have 14 games remaining in the regular-season. They have a huge 'four-pointer' against the San Jose Sharks Tuesday night, a team that's only five points back of Edmonton. After that, the schedule doesn't exactly ease up. Their next several opponents will be the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Utah Mammoth, Vegas Golden Knights and then the Anaheim Ducks. 

Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal suspects that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will wind up as second-line center once things shake out for the rest of the campaign.

"Obviously, he's a top-four scorer, one of the most elite players in the League, so it's not like one guy can just step into his shoes," Nugent-Hopkins said at morning skate on Tuesday.  "We kind of talked about it this morning; it's a collective thing with our group that everybody's going to need to pick up the slack."

The Oilers' superstar forward, Draisaitl, has 35 goals and 62 assists for 97 points in 65 games this season, 4th in the NHL in scoring. He was in on over 41% of the team's goals.

Photo: © Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images