How will Leon Draisaitl’s injury impact Edmonton Oilers down the stretch?

Edmonton Oilers fans witnessed the team tighten up after the NHL trade deadline, and the wins came with more frequency. The club is known for long winning streaks under coach Kris Knoblauch, but so far this season, those hot streaks have been elusive. A three-game streak in late January qualifies as the outer marker this year, and two of those three wins came after regulation. So, when the Oilers went 3-1-1 in a five-game run after the trade deadline, there were high hopes for a winning streak and possibly the first division crown since 1987. All of that was put to rest, or so it seems, on Tuesday when the Oilers announced Leon Draisaitl would be out for the remainder of the regular season. The news hit the city like a hammer, with fan reaction going from sullen to angry at the result of a hit by Nashville Predators forward Ozzy Wiesblatt on Draisaitl during Sunday night’s game. Four teams from the Pacific Division are likely to make the playoffs, with the fourth team landing in the final Western Conference wild-card spot. That would mean facing the Colorado Avalanche in the first round, a must to avoid. The Oilers want to finish in one of the three top spots in the Pacific. Losing Draisaitl made the job much harder. Draisaitl does everything, and does it all well. He plays in all three game states, takes important faceoffs and delivers enormous offense. This season, Draisaitl’s 97 points in 65 games ranked him fourth in both points and points per game in the NHL. Draisaitl floats all boats and has led a wicked outscoring line (often with wingers Vasily Podkolzin and Kasperi Kapanen) at five-on-five this season. He’s an elite shooter and a sublime passer. He has brains, brawn and finesse in equal measure. He’s a difficult player to contain in close quarters, and he possesses 93rd percentile max speed, according to NHL Edge. Draisaitl is a nightmare for opposition defensemen and one of the greatest entertainers on NHL ice in this era. Replacing him is impossible; the best Edmonton can hope for is survival and earning a playoff berth. If Draisaitl can return this season, there’s a chance for a third consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup Final. In a sea of ridiculous stats, perhaps the most impressive is this: At five-on-five this season, the Oilers have a 55 percent goal share with him on the ice, and a 43 percent goal percentage when Draisaitl is off the ice, via Natural Stat Trick. Draisaitl is the owner of an almost perfect PuckIQ player card. He’s over 50 percent in goals and expected goals five-on-five against elite, mid-level and low-level competition. Draisaitl is a wagon. It’s a stretch, but the injury to Draisaitl gives the rest of the Oilers team (aside from captain Connor McDavid) a chance to make a bigger impact on the team’s success. Newly acquired center Jason Dickinson and his linemates (Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jack Roslovic) were the second line on Tuesday night against the San Jose Sharks. An increase in ice time versus elites on the opposition will be the future for this trio, and Knoblauch will need to hard-match lines more often with Draisaitl out of the lineup. If the Oilers place Draisaitl on LTIR, recalls from AHL Bakersfield Condors could happen between now and the end of the regular season. There are restrictions on the number of recalls and cap compliance, but there are some interesting options. Right-handed defender Alec Regula has found his game in the minors and might be able to help out on the third pairing. Center James Hambin is a fine utility player and could help out in penalty-kill situations until Draisaitl returns. Ike Howard and Quinn Hutson could return for more audition time, and Roby Jarventie is playing well enough to get his first NHL look with the Oilers. Goaltender Calvin Pickard is struggling with the Condors, but might be an option if Tristan Jarry continues to struggle. The Oilers have played strong defense in recent games, so fans anticipated tight checking and close coverage against the Sharks. Instead, the game turned into a high-scoring affair with mistakes on both sides. The Oilers outscored the mistakes, a staple of the McDavid-Draisaitl era, and escaped with a victory. All four Oilers centers had an offensive impact on the game: McDavid and Dickinson both had one assist, and Adam Henrique had two. Only Josh Samanski was shut out among the pivots, but he, too, played a strong game. The Oilers will have to be tighter defensively without Draisaitl, though. No team can count on scoring five goals every game. After the win and Vegas’ loss to Buffalo on Tuesday, Edmonton moved into second place in the division. There’s an impressive raw power about Draisaitl. He is the stuff of legends. The organization was vague about the time of return, and that tells us it is uncertain. The good news is that if he were gone for the entire playoffs, we would know by now. The unsettling news is that we do not know the time of his return to the lineup. It’s the job of the Oilers players, coaching staff and management to make the postseason, and then keep hopes alive until Draisaitl’s return. Now with Draisaitl sidelined for the time being, the Oilers remain the most interesting story in hockey.