Edmonton Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl excelled despite ankle sprain
Edmonton Oilers star forward Leon Draisaitl played most of the NHL postseason with a high ankle sprain, according to general manager Ken Holland.
Draisaitl had declined to officially confirm the news himself before Holland finally did during his end-of-season media availability on Wednesday. Holland said Draisaitl was injured in a collision with L.A. Kings forward Mikey Anderson in Game 6 of Edmonton’s first-round playoff series.
Draisaitl battled through the pain until Edmonton was eliminated by Colorado in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals on Monday.
During that 10-game stretch following his injury, Draisaitl paced the entire NHL playoff field in offensive production with two goals and 24 points. He also recorded three or more points in seven postseason tilts, becoming just the second player in NHL history to do so, and set an NHL record for most consecutive multi-assist games with six straight.
When asked what injury he was dealing with, Draisaitl had said he “won’t make it about me” when so many players fought through ailments.
“I’m sure everyone saw the video, the clip of what happened,” Draisaitl said Tuesday. “I’m sure you can figure out what type of injury it was by watching the clip.”
Other Oilers who dealt with injuries in the postseason were Darnell Nurse (torn hip flexor), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (shoulder) and Jesse Puljujarvi (shoulder), while Kailer Yamamoto was in concussion protocol after taking a hit earlier in the Colorado series. Holland said he doesn’t believe anyone will require offseason surgery.