Insider shares the scoop on McDavid and Draisaitl injuries.

The Edmonton Oilers were given quite the scare last week when their two top stars, captain Connor McDavid and forward Leon Draisaitl, were both knocked out of the lineup due to injury.

Since that time neither McDavid nor Draisaitl has been able to return to the ice, with the Oilers picking up a big 5-1 win over the Seattle Kraken on Saturday with both men out of the lineup, and fans are growing concerned that these injuries could potentially impact the Stanley Cup playoffs for the Oilers.

On Saturday night, National Hockey League insider Elliotte Friedman shared a critical update on both men that should help put some of those concerns to bed.

"The word at this point in time is that there are no worries that these are long term ailments," said Friedman.

Friedman emphasized that he does not believe that these injuries will impact their playoff availability "in any way" and additionally the insider also was able to give us something of a timeline to work with for their returns. Although he didn't give a precise amount of time each man will be out for, he did indicate who he believes we can expect to see return first.

"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've been warned that McDavid has blown past injury timelines before."

In spite of the fact that these injuries aren't expected to extend into the playoffs they come at a less than ideal time for the Oilers. With only a few games remaining in the regular season, the Oilers find themselves 3 points back of the Vegas Golden Knights in the Pacific Division and just 2 points ahead of the surging Los Angeles Kings. I have no doubt that the Oilers would prefer to have both men in the lineup right now, but at least these injuries aren't expected to keep them out for long.