The Edmonton Oilers will navigate Leon Draisaitl's absence while his teammates rally and lines shift.
The Edmonton Oilers released a statement on Saturday, noting that Leon Draisaitl will be taking a leave of absence from the team.
In a press release, the organization wrote, "Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl will be taking a brief leave of absence to attend to a family illness in Germany. He is expected to return to the team later next week." They added, "On behalf of Leon, the club asks for privacy at this time."
Connor McDavid spoke before the game and said "everybody in here is a brother, a father, son, whatever it is". "Job comes second," He added, "He's gotta go home and be with his family." He said the locker room is thinking about him and has family and they'll have to care of business while he's gone.
In the meantime, the Oilers will shuffle around their lines. Vasily Podkolzin will move up to the first line with Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will slide down to the second line with Kasperi Kapanen and Trent Frederic. Isaac Howard, Jack Roslovic, and Matt Savoie will be line three, while Andrew Mangiapane, Mattias Janmark and Curtis Lazar slot in on the fourth line.
Leon Draisaitl is taking a leave from the Oilers for personal reasons. Photo by
© Sergei Belski Imagn ImagesJack Michaels wrote of the new top line, "In 17 months, Podkolzin has gone from not being in Vancouver’s plans to waking up and saying, “Draisaitl is out tonight, guess I’m stuck with McDavid.”
Draisaitl will certainly be missed. He's a massive part of the offense and the Oilers' attack. But, as McDavid pointed out, family comes first, and the team will have to do their best to fill in by committee with one of their top guys out for a few games.
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