EDMONTON -- Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, the second- and fourth-leading scorers in the NHL this season, each is expected to be out up to a week for the Edmonton Oilers.
Both were out for Edmonton's 5-4 win against the Seattle Kraken on Saturday, and the two centers also could miss Edmonton's following two games, at home against the Dallas Stars on Wednesday and at the Kraken on Thursday. The Oilers' next game after that is at home against the Calgary Flames on March 29.
McDavid sustained a lower-body injury during the second period of a 4-3 overtime loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday, and Draisaitl sustained an undisclosed injury during a 7-1 win against the Utah Hockey Club on Tuesday.
"Obviously, we have to be cognizant of what’s ahead of us," Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said Friday. "The playoffs are very important and pushing guys that are injured to make themselves worse is not ideal. But even if it was game 5 or 6, we wouldn’t want to put somebody in a position where they’re going to make themselves worse who had a nagging injury.
"Obviously the schedule has something to do with it, but ultimately it comes down to the medical staff saying when the player should return and how much time he should have off."
Neither player took part in the Oilers optional practice Friday; Draisaitl and McDavid had never been injured at the same time during their 10 seasons as Edmonton teammates, going back to the start of McDavid's rookie season in 2015-16. Each was a healthy scratch for the last game of the 2023-24 regular season, a 5-1 loss at the Colorado Avalanche.
Knoblauch said McDavid was expected to be examined later Friday.
"Connor’s got a doctor’s appointment today to see how long he’s going to be," he said, "and we’re not anticipating him playing tomorrow for sure. I would say day to day, maybe a week. We’ll find out more today.
"Same kind of timeline [for Draisaitl]. He won’t be back immediately; he’ll be up to a week."
Draisaitl is second in the NHL with 101 points (49 goals, 52 assists) in 68 games, four points behind Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon. Draisaitl had an 18-game point streak (27 points; 14 goals, 13 assists) end in the win against Utah, where he led all forwards with 22:23 of ice time.
McDavid is fourth in the League with 90 points (26 goals, 64 assists) in 63 games. He extended his point streak to 13 games (19 points; four goals, 15 assists) with an assist on a goal by forward Jeff Skinner at 5:30 of the second period against the Jets.
It is uncertain when exactly McDavid was injured; he had six shifts in the second period against Winnipeg, with his final shift lasting 18 seconds before returning to the bench at 19:03. McDavid spoke with Oilers head athletic therapist T.D. Forss on the bench before the end of the period and did not return for the third.
McDavid previously missed three games this season because of an ankle injury sustained during a 6-1 loss at the Columbus Blue Jackets on Oct. 28. He missed another three games when he was suspended for cross-checking Vancouver Canucks forward Conor Garland during a 3-2 loss at the Vancouver Canucks on Jan. 18.
Draisaitl missed his first game of the season against Winnipeg.
"Our training staff was checking with him regularly," Knoblauch said. "Leon has played through a lot and there was talk about how he was doing, and should he go through or should he be sitting out. Then after, the next day, they re-evaluated and figured out it was more than they anticipated."
When asked if the two could play if it were the Stanley Cup Playofss, Knoblauch said, "I don't think they would."
Knoblauch did say other forwards will be expected to step up in the absence of Edmonton's top two players.
"If you looked at our lineup, there are many guys that play 10 or 12 minutes," Knoblauch said. "[Adam] Henrique, he plays 14 or 15 minutes, he can certainly play more. I think on the year he’s averaging 14 minutes a night and last night he was at 17 and-a-half, and he can easily do that on a regular basis. [Connor] Brown, [Mattias] Janmark, [Kasperi] Kapanen, numerous guys can play more.
"No one can replace 29 and 97, but other guys can handle more responsibilities and more jobs."
The Oilers (41-24-5) are second in the Pacific Division, three points behind the first-place Vegas Golden Knights and two ahead of the third-place Los Angeles Kings.
