Oilers Could Be Cautious With Leon Draisaitl Injury Entering Playoffs?

The Edmonton Oilers did their job without Leon Draisaitl during the most important stretch of the regular season: clinching a playoff spot and staying in the hunt for the top seed in the Pacific Division.

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That has allowed the Oilers to give their superstar center all the time he needs to rest and recover in order to return at some point this postseason. Initial reports and rumblings had always suggested that Draisaitl would at least be ready for Game 1 of the first round; however, given Edmonton’s surge over the last month, there’s a chance they might feel more comfortable giving him a little extra time off depending on how their opening round series is going.

Oilers reporter Jason Gregor broke it all down on Sunday.

Gregor said:

“Leon Draisaitl has a high pain threshold, everybody knows that. But I also think Leon is a really smart guy. I think he believes in his teammates. You know what, I don’t have to rush back and risk an injury just to play. If we’re in Game 4 now, I guess if they’re down 3–1, it may be different, but if they’re up 3–1, they’re not going to rush him back. So I think it’s all situational… I don’t believe that, I think at times in the playoffs, you almost have to protect the player from himself because they desperately want to play, and I understand that, but you can’t really freeze it to protect it. And I would assume he would wear a brace—like the braces they have nowadays are amazing—so there’s lots of things to it. Sometimes we assume cautious is a negative; I think they will be cautiously educated on how they deal with Draisaitl,”

The 30-year-old Draisaitl racked up 97 points (35 goals, 62 assists) in the 65 games he played this 2025-26 season.

It’s been just over a month now since Draisaitl suffered his lower-body injury taking a hit from Nashville Predators forward Ozzy Wiesblatt back on March 15. If he were to return for Game 1 of the playoffs this upcoming weekend, that would be five weeks; though playing it safer and seeing how the start of Round 1 goes could allow him to take another week, or potentially even two, should the Oilers take care of business.

That obviously comes with some risk, but if Edmonton draws the Anaheim Ducks or Utah Mammoth, it’s hard to believe they wouldn’t be capable of handling them and advancing to Round 2, whether Draisaitl is in the lineup or not.

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