Leon Draisaitl injured during Oilers’ practice
Ahead of tonight’s matchup against Toronto.
HockeyFeed
February has been rough on Edmonton Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl, and it sounds like March won’t start off any better… On Tuesday during practice, Draisaitl appeared to injure himself as he took a shot off goalie Stuart Skinner. He headed to the bench in pain, and seemed to be favoring his ride side, per NHL Network correspondant Tom Gazzola.
Draisaitl did not finish practice and left the ice with Head Athletic Therapist T.D. Forss.
The news of Draisaitl’s injury sort of slipped by on Tuesday as the Oilers were quite busy on the trade market. First, Edmonton acquired forward Patrik Puistola from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for forward Jesse Puljujarvi. Then, the monster came through as the Oilers landed defenseman Mattias Ekholm from the Nashville Predators in exchange for blue liner Tyson Barrie, forward Reid Schaefer, a 2023 first-round pick and a fourth-round selection in 2024.
The focus was on the Oilers staying busy ahead of the trade deadline coming on Friday and general manager Ken Holland solidifying his team’s blue line ahead of the postseason. This will help take some of the big-minute pressure off of Darnell Nurse, who’s looked overwhelmed at many times this season.
The Oilers still will have roughly $2-million in cap space to work with and might not be done ahead of the deadline.
Let’s hope they do not need to scramble for some fire power up front if Draisaitl’s injury is more serious than any of us would like to imagine.
The Oilers are hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs later tonight. The Leafs aim to keep their three-game win streak alive, and Edmonton probably just wishes to have Draisaitl in the lineup.
An update from the team is expected to come before game time.
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