On Friday (March 21), Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch revealed that his team will be without the services of both Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid for likely at least one week.
The Oilers’ upcoming schedule includes four games over a span of eight days beginning tonight (March 22) when they take on the Seattle Kraken at Rogers Place. Edmonton will also host the Dallas Stars on March 26 and then travel to Seattle to face the Kraken on March 27 before returning home to battle the Calgary Flames on March 29.
Draisaitl has already missed one game, which was Edmonton’s 4-3 loss in overtime to the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday (March 20), with an undisclosed injury that he sustained Tuesday (March 18) when the Oilers beat the Utah Hockey Club 7-1.
McDavid, meanwhile, suffered a lower-body injury during the second period on Thursday, when he was slashed by Winnipeg blueliner Josh Morrissey, and missed the remainder of the game.
These ailments have put the Oilers in an almost-unprecedented situation of having to play without both of their superstar centres. Out of the 844 games in the regular season and playoffs that Edmonton has played since selecting McDavid first overall in the 2015 NHL Draft, at least one-half of the Dynamic Duo has been in the lineup for 842 of them.
In fact, the only two times over the last nine-plus seasons that Edmonton has iced a lineup sans Draisaitl and McDavid, neither was injured. Both instances came in the final game of the regular season, when Edmonton’s spot in the Pacific Division standings was solidified, and the Oilers decided to rest their superstars rather than risk anything negative happening in what they deemed to be a meaningless tilt. Here’s a look at those two games:
Oilers at Canucks – April 29, 2022
There was nothing but pride on the line when Edmonton visited Rogers Arena at the end of the 2021-22 regular season. The Oilers were locked into second place in the Pacific Division, giving them home-ice advantage in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, while the host Vancouver Canucks knew they would be finishing fifth in the Pacific and missing the postseason.
J.T. Miller scored in the first period to put Vancouver in front 1-0, and that lead held until the opening minute of the third period, when Oilers defenceman Brett Kulak tallied to level the score at 1-1. Conor Garland restored Vancouver’s lead just a couple of minutes later, but Tyson Barrie replied at 9:10 of the period, drawing the Oilers even at 2-2.
The score remained tied for the rest of regulation, and overtime solved nothing, necessitating a shootout. Each team missed its first five attempts before Oilers forward Devin Shore finally put the puck past Spencer Martin. Edmonton netminder Mikko Koskinen then stopped Oliver Ekman-Larsson, securing a 3-2 victory for the Oilers.
Oilers at Avalanche – April 23, 2024
Going into the 2023-24 regular-season finale, Edmonton had clinched second place in the Pacific Division, while the Colorado Avalanche were assured of finishing third in the Central Division. However, there was something on the line between the teams: Edmonton had 104 points, while Colorado had 105 points. Should the two end up meeting in the Western Conference Final, the team with more points would have held home-ice advantage.
But even with that hanging in the balance, Edmonton decided it would be best to rest not only Draisaitl and McDavid, but also its next five leading point producers: Evan Bouchard, Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Mattias Ekholm, and Evander Kane. The Avs, meanwhile, took a decidedly different approach, dressing all their top players, including 100-point producers Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen.
The result was a predictably lopsided victory for the home team, who scored four times in the first 10:17 of the game en route to a 5-1 win. Dylan Holloway had Edmonton’s lone goal, a power-play marker at 15:22 of the opening frame.
To say the least, it was an interesting approach by the Oilers, but it didn’t come back to bite them in the form of a playoff series against Colorado. While Edmonton advanced to the Western Conference Final, the Avalanche were eliminated in the second round by the Dallas Stars.
Life Without the Dynamic Duo
The Oilers have been incredibly fortunate to have made it so many seasons without a single instance that both Draisaitl and McDavid have been sidelined simultaneously. A situation like the one they now face was bound to happen eventually.
McDavid has missed 62 games in his NHL career; the Oilers are 24-28-10 in those contests. Draisaitl has only missed 10 games since Edmonton recalled him from the Bakersfield Condors early in the 2015-16 season; the Oilers are 4-5-1 in those tilts.
The Oilers are 1-1-0 when both Draisaitl and McDavid sit things out, and are almost certain to play at least the next two games without either in uniform.
The timing couldn’t be worse, with Edmonton in the thick of a playoff chase that sees the Oilers currently sitting in second place in the Pacific Division, three points back of the division-leading Vegas Golden Knights and two points in front of the third-place Los Angeles Kings.
But if there is a silver lining to be found, it’s that the rest of the Oilers will not just have a chance to step up; they’ll need to step up. The experience that can come from that level of responsibility could prove beneficial in the weeks ahead as Edmonton looks to make another run to the Stanley Cup Final.
