The Edmonton Oilers will be without Leon Draisaitl when they take on the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday, head coach Kris Knoblauch said.
The star centre joined the team’s list of injured players on Thursday when the Oilers beat the San Jose Sharks. Draisaitl left the game in the middle of the second period and will be out short-term with a lower-body injury.
According to Sportsnet’s Mark Spector, the injury was suffered when Draisaitl was hit by San Jose forward Barclay Goodrow. It’s a new injury and not a re-aggravation of the undisclosed ailment that kept him out of the lineup for three games back in March.
Edmonton’s depth will be tested as they play the final two games of this four-game road trip against the Pacific Division. The Oilers were already missing Connor McDavid, Mattias Ekholm, and Stuart Skinner on this trip and Draisaitl’s injury means they’ll be without both of their top two forwards for a critical game in Los Angeles.
The team could get a boost on Saturday as Knoblauch said there’s a “slight chance” that Trent Frederic draws into the lineup for his Oilers debut. The Oilers acquired Frederic from the Boston Bruins ahead of the March 7 trade deadline but the rugged forward has been out since late February with a lower-body injury.
Per Bob Stauffer, Frederic skated with Adam Henrique and Zach Hyman when the Oilers practiced on Friday. Vasily Podkolzin and Viktor Arvidsson were on Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ wings and the successful third line of Jeff Skinner, Mattias Janmark, and Connor Brown remained intact.
The Oilers are two points back of the Kings for second place in the Pacific Division and home-ice advantage for what will be the fourth consecutive first-round playoff meeting between the two teams. Both teams have seven games remaining this season and they’ll meet once more in Edmonton later in the month.
