Elliotte Friedman provides key Oilers injury updates on Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl

Ahead of the highly anticipated matchup between the Edmonton Oilers and the Seattle Kraken, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman provided crucial updates on the injury status of the Oilers' star players, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

In Thursday's 4-3 OT loss to the Winnipeg Jets, McDavid left the ice in the second period with a lower-body injury and didn't return for the third period or overtime. Draisaitl, meanwhile, has missed the last two games after sustaining an injury during Tuesday's 7-1 win against Utah.

According to Friedman, the Oilers aren't concerned about McDavid or Draisaitl's injury affecting their playoffs availability.

“Well, the word at this point in time is that there are no worries that these are long-term ailments that will threaten their playoff availability in any way."

Friedman noted that Draisaitl's timeline to return may be ahead of McDavid:

"Now, as of today, it appears likely that Leon Draisaitl’s timeline is ahead of Connor McDavid’s, and the belief is that Draisaitl may return before McDavid. But I have been warned that McDavid has blown past injury timelines before."

It isn't the first injury of the season for McDavid, who had missed three games with an ankle issue in October. He also served a three-game suspension in January.

Despite the missed time, Connor McDavid has 90 points (26 goals, 64 assists) through 63 games, while Draisaitl has 101 points (49 goals, 52 assists) in 68 contests.

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Edmonton HC Kris Knoblauch on Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl's status

Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch admitted that the team needs to keep the playoffs in mind when deciding whether to bring injured players back for the last stretch of the regular season.

"Obviously, we have to be cognizant of what’s ahead of us. The playoffs are very important and pushing guys that are injured to make themselves worse is not ideal," Knoblauch said. (per NHl.com)

The coach emphasized that the team's medical staff will ultimately make the call on when Connor McDavid, Draisaitl, and other injured players should return to the ice.

"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,"Knoblauch explained.

The Oilers are second in the Pacific Division, three points behind the Vegas Golden Knights, with 13 games remaining in the regular season.