Oilers HC Kris Knoblauch speaks out on Leon Draisaitl's injury status, possible return timeline

On Friday, Edmonton Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch issued an update on Leon Draisaitl’s injury. The forward will likely be out for a week following an undisclosed injury in the Oilers's 7-1 win against Utah on Tuesday. He also missed Thursday’s game against the Winnipeg Jets.

Speaking to the media on Friday, Knoblauch said:

"Same kind of timeline. Won't be back immediately. He'll be probably (out) up to a week," Knoblauch said at Rogers Place. (0:25 onwards).

Knoblauch explained that the medical staff monitored Draisaitl closely.

"Our training staff was checking in with him regularly. Leon has played through a lot," he added. (3:10 onwards) "There was talk about how he's doing and could he go through, or should he be sitting out? And then after the next day, they re-evaluated and figured out it was more than they anticipated."

Leon Draisaitl will miss Saturday’s game against the Seattle Kraken. He could also miss games against the Dallas Stars and Kraken next week.

The Oilers (40-24-5) are second in the Pacific Division. They hope to have Draisaitl back before their Mar. 29 game against Calgary.

Apart from forward Leon Draisaitl, the Edmonton Oilers will also be without captain Connor McDavid against the Seattle Kraken on Saturday. McDavid - who has 90 points in 63 games and is on a 13-game point streak - will undergo an MRI scan for a lower-body injury.

Other injured players on Edmonton's injury report include John Klingberg, Stuart Skinner, Alec Regula, and Evander Kane.

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Edmonton Oilers lost to Jets in Leon Draisaitl's absence

The Edmonton Oilers lost 4-3 overtime to the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday with forward Leon Draisaitl absent from the lineup. Coach Kris Knoblauch praised both Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard.

“Both goalies played really well,” Knoblauch said, via NHL.com. “The shots were lower because there wasn’t much room to create offence, but the quality of shots were pretty good and our goalies did a good job.”

Jeff Skinner scored first for Edmonton at 5:28 of the first period. He took advantage of a turnover and beat Connor Hellebuyck. Winnipeg tied it 1-1 at 13:39. Cole Perfetti scored off a rebound from Dylan Samberg’s shot.

Skinner scored again at 5:30 of the second period. Connor McDavid passed from behind the net, and Skinner finished through Hellebuyck’s legs. Josh Morrissey made it 2-2 at 7:41, redirecting a pass from Nino Niederreiter.

Brandon Tanev put Winnipeg ahead 3-2 at 3:56 of the third period, but Zach Hyman scored to tie it 3-3. Kyle Connor won the game 1:13 into overtime with a wrist shot past Pickard.