The Oilers second leading scorer spoke to the media on Monday after participating in practice on the fifth line. Draisaitl started skating early last week on his road to recovery, but didn’t give too many details on the extent of the issue.

“I feel fine. Obviously, it’s progress, and there’s a timeline, and I kind of have to follow that. But all in all, I feel pretty good. And it’s just one day at a time,” said Draisaitl.

“There are steps that I have to follow, and there are certain things that I have to be able to do, and I’m not there yet right now. We’ll see how that is by the end of the week, or whenever Game 1 would be.”

Draisaitl hasn’t suited up since leaving the first period of the Nashville Predators game on March 15. He could tell right away, after getting jostled along the boards, that something didn’t feel right.

He sought medical treatment in Germany in late March from Dr. Müller-Wohlfahrt, who has treated many global athletes, as well as Auston Matthews.

Known for a high pain tolerance and his history of playing through injuries, this one doesn’t seem like a situation a player can grit his teeth through – it takes time to heal properly.

“There’s certain things that you can play through, and other things that are just, you have to think about your future and the team’s future a little bit. I think our staff and our medical staff and myself, we know how to handle these situations, and we know when it’s good to go and when it’s not,” said Draisaitl.

Coach Kris Knoblauch said it would be premature to determine whether Draisaitl could play today if necessary, saying there’s some of the healing process he must go through.

“Hopefully, with skates and the rehab treatments that he’s getting, he’s ready for us. Ideally, it’d be Game 1. If it’s Game 3 or 4, then so be it. We’re going to have to adjust,” Knoblauch told reporters Monday.

“We know Leon will play through a lot of pain, and he wants to play in the Stanley Cup more than anything, so there’s never a doubt about his will. We’d be very fortunate. We would love to have him Game 1, but we’ll have to wait and find out.”

Fans were given updates on other injured Oilers on Monday. Zach Hyman will not play on Monday night against the Colorado Avalanche and is “questionable” for the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday, the regular season finale.

Jason Dickinson will miss the last two games, but little was said by Knoblauch on the nature of his injury. When asked, Knoblauch said it’s possible Dickinson could miss playoff games.

Max Jones is expected to miss three-to-four weeks after getting hurt against the Kings on Saturday.

In the meantime, Isaac Howard has been recalled from the Bakersfield Condors and will suit up in the top-six vs the Avs, on a line with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jack Roslovic.

Michael Menzies is an Oilersnation columnist and co-host of PreGaming and Oilersnation After Dark. He’s also been the play-by-play voice of the Bonnyville Pontiacs in the AJHL since 2019. With seven years of news experience as the Editor-at-Large of Lakeland Connect in Bonnyville, Menzies collects vinyl, books, and stomach issues. Follow him on X at Menzies_4.

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