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Apparent Leon Draisaitl injury setback sparks concern for Oilers analyst
Photo credit: Edmonton Oilers Raw
The popular concern for the Edmonton Oilers heading into the playoffs, including one critical injury to superstar Leon Draisaitl.
Draisaitl sustained an injury in the Oilers' game on April 3, and was expected to get back into the lineup «well before playoffs» according to Coach Knoblauch - but that never happened.
Oilers analyst raises concern over injury to Leon Draisaitl
Oilers analyst Allan Mitchell is now raising some significant concerns over the injury to Draisaitl, and overall to how they've handled undisclosed injuries and inaccurate timelines with every single player.
I am worried about injury and about the lack of credible information in regard to Leon Draisaitl, Mattias Ekholm and Jake Walman.
We last saw Draisaitl two weeks ago, 10 days for Walman, a week for Ekholm. We know Ekholm will miss the first round at least, but no idea why.
If the other two appear in Game 1, music! However, the goal at one time was to have everyone play a game before the end of the season. Didn't happen. We wait.
- Allan Mitchell, Lowetide
We last saw Draisaitl two weeks ago, 10 days for Walman, a week for Ekholm. We know Ekholm will miss the first round at least, but no idea why.
If the other two appear in Game 1, music! However, the goal at one time was to have everyone play a game before the end of the season. Didn't happen. We wait.
- Allan Mitchell, Lowetide
The Oilers have yet to confirm the exact nature of the injury to Leon Draisaitl, but the superstar revealed that it was specifically a hit from Barclay Goodrow that hurt him.
It is absolutely a concern that Leon Draisaitl never made a return to play following this injury, after the team repeatedly said he would be able to return. It's possible Draisaitl experienced a setback, and wasn't able to get back in the lineup.
Leon Draisaitl appeared to suffer setback, or still fighting injury before playoffs
At the same time, there's no concern about Leon Draisaitl playing through injury in the playoffs. He's been near superhuman in his ability to play hurt in the postseason, most notably during the Calgary Flames series years ago - dominating them on one leg.
Earlier this week, Draisaitl said he would like to get into games, but that he's trying to be extra cautious with his injury.
I would like to get into games, but I also want to put myself in a situation where I'm not making it any worse. Obviously I want to be smart about it and careful, cautious with it. Those are the steps we're taking.
- Leon Draisaitl
- Leon Draisaitl
Not seeing Draisaitl play in the final games of the season may indicate that he is playing through some injury in the playoffs, but even that shouldn't be a reason to doubt his ability to produce.
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 17 | 857 ANSWERS Apparent Leon Draisaitl injury setback sparks concern for Oilers analyst Do you think Draisaitl will be playing through injury in the playoffs? | ||
| Yes | 659 | 76.9 % |
| No | 198 | 23.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
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