The Edmonton Oilers have been without their superstar tandem of Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid for a few days, and it appears the pair are both still not ready to make their return to the ice.
With three games on the slate for this coming week, Jason Gregor of the Daily Faceoff reports that both Draisaitl and McDavid are not expected to be available for any of them.
The Oilers are due to host the Dallas Stars on Wednesday, March 26, before traveling to the Climate Pledge Arena to take on the Seattle Kraken on Thursday. They'll then return to Edmonton for a game against the rival Calgary Flames on Saturday. McDavid and Drasaitl will continue to nurse their respective injuries throughout the week, and as such, the earliest fans might see them back in action would be on Tuesday, April 1 against the Vegas Golden Knights.
McDavid sustained what the team described as a lower-body injury during the Oilers' 4–3 overtime loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday, March 20. He missed the team's game against the Kraken on the 22nd, and is now in line to miss the next three games, too. As for Draisaitl, details of his injury remain undisclosed, but he's already missed the last two games.
Fortunately, the Oilers are not expecting either player to have their ability for the postseason impacted by the injuries.
Draisaitl leads the NHL in goals with 49 and has 101 points on the year, good for second in the NHL behind Nathan MacKinnon. As for McDavid, he's registered 90 points in 63 games and is tied for third in the league with 64 assists.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Oilers Get Concerning Injury Updates on Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid.
