The Edmonton Oilers announced Tuesday that they expect star forward Leon Draisaitl to miss the remainder of the regular season with a lower-body injury.
Draisaitl, the 2020 Hart Trophy winner and league MVP and runner-up last season, was hit on the bench by the Nashville Predators’ Ozzy Weisblatt during Sunday’s game. Draisaitl left the game after two more shifts in the first quarter and did not return.
The Oilers did not say whether Draisaitl’s injury will keep him out of the Stanley Cup playoffs, which begins April 18. With 14 games left in the regular season, Edmonton is third in the Pacific Division with a record of 33-26-9.
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“Obviously, he’s a top-four scorer in the league, one of the most elite players in the league, so there’s no way anyone can take his spot,” forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said Tuesday. “We talked about it this morning; it’s a collective matter for our team and everyone needs someone to fill the void.”
Draisaitl, 30, is tied for sixth with 35 goals and fourth in the NHL with 97 points.
The injury is the second for an NHL star this season. Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews suffered a torn medial collateral ligament and a quadriceps contusion after taking a knee hit from Anaheim Ducks Radko Gudas. Gudas has since been suspended for five games.