Draisaitl’s playoff doubt

Leon Draisaitl’s timetable just turned from “late regular season” to “maybe sometime in the first round,” and that is a dangerous shift for the Edmonton Oilers with the Stanley Cup playoffs set to begin on April 18. Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said on April 7 that he does not expect Draisaitl to play again in the regular season and now only anticipates a return “sometime in the first round” if recovery goes well. (nhl.com)(nhl.com) Draisaitl has not played since March 15, when he suffered a lower-body injury against the Nashville Predators after scoring the opening goal and then leaving after two late first-period shifts. The Oilers have only four regular-season games left, and their final game is April 16, which leaves almost no runway for him to test the injury before the postseason starts two days later. (nhl.com)(nhl.com) This is not a depth winger or a second-pair defenseman. Draisaitl is tied for sixth in the National Hockey League with 97 points, built from 35 goals and 62 assists in 65 games, and he is one of the few players in hockey who can tilt a series with one power play, one pass, or one heavy shift in the offensive zone. (nhl.com)(nhl.com) Edmonton’s problem is that the standings are giving them no room to breathe. As of April 8, the Oilers and Vegas Golden Knights were tied at 88 points in the Pacific Division, while the Anaheim Ducks sat one point back at 87, which means one bad night can move a team from first place to third. (sports.yahoo.com)(sports.yahoo.com) (espn.com)(espn.com) That matters because first place in a division is not just a prettier line in the table. In the National Hockey League playoff format, division winners get the top two seeds in the conference bracket, and small changes in seeding can completely change a first-round matchup and the road after that. (sports.yahoo.com)(sports.yahoo.com) The tiebreakers make the race even tighter than the raw point totals suggest. The league’s first tiebreaker is fewer games played, which is really points percentage, and after that it goes to regulation wins, then regulation-and-overtime wins, then total wins, then head-to-head points percentage, then goal differential, then goals scored. (nhl.com)(nhl.com) Yahoo’s playoff update, based on USA Today reporting published April 8, said Edmonton held the tiebreaker edge over Vegas at 88 points and could move into sole possession of first by gaining at least one point against the San Jose Sharks. That kind of edge is useful, but it is also fragile, because one regulation loss can erase the cushion and drop a team down the board fast. (sports.yahoo.com)(sports.yahoo.com) The Ducks’ presence makes this more than a two-team race. Anaheim was sitting at 87 points despite a six-game losing streak in the ESPN standings snapshot, which means Edmonton is not only trying to hold off Vegas but also trying to avoid getting jumped from behind if results break the wrong way over the final week. (espn.com)(espn.com) There is also a second layer to the Oilers’ injury picture. The April 7 National Hockey League report said Zach Hyman could return before the regular season ends, which softens the blow a little, but Hyman returning is not the same as replacing Draisaitl’s 97 points and his role on the power play. (nhl.com)(nhl.com) Knoblauch’s wording is what makes this story feel more serious than a routine late-season rest plan. He did not say Draisaitl would miss one tune-up game or that the club was being cautious; he said Draisaitl had not been on the ice yet, expected him to skate sometime that week, and framed Game 1 as possible but not likely. (nhl.com)(nhl.com) Draisaitl has already gone to Germany for specialist treatment, which tells you this has been handled as more than a day-to-day bruise. On March 21, he told Sky Sport that recovery would “definitely take a few weeks,” and that timeline now lines up uncomfortably well with Knoblauch’s suggestion that help may come only after the playoffs have already started. (nhl.com)(nhl.com) Edmonton has made the Stanley Cup Final in each of the past two seasons and lost to the Florida Panthers both times, so this roster was built for another long spring. If the Oilers open this postseason without Draisaitl, they are not just missing a star name; they are starting the most important part of the year with one of the league’s most expensive and dangerous engines still in the garage. (nhl.com)(nhl.com)