The Edmonton Oilers may be preparing for a few games without superstar Leon Draisaitl in the lineup.<\/p>\n
After leaving Sunday\u2019s game against the Nashville Predators with an injury, Draisaitl was absent from practice on Monday morning. Head coach Kris Knoblauch seemed to give a positive injury update<\/a> on the German superstar after the Nashville win, but did not have an exact timeline for his return when asked on Monday.<\/p>\n It certainly feels like Draisaitl may miss a little bit of time with what Knoblauch is calling a \u201clower-body injury,\u201d so how will the Oilers cope? We might\u2019ve gotten a hint at what the team will run up front during practice.<\/p>\n 880 CHED\u2019s Bob Stauffer had the full lineup from Monday\u2019s skate.<\/p>\n The @EdmontonOilers<\/a> practice:<\/p>\n Savoie-McDavid-Hyman Ekholm-Bouchard Ingram not on ice:<\/p>\n Draisaitl and Emberson<\/p>\n \u2014 Bob Stauffer (@Bob_Stauffer) March 16, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n It doesn\u2019t appear that Knoblauch is interested in breaking up what worked during Sunday\u2019s victory. He kept rookie Matt Savoie on the top line with Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman, and it sounds like that will be a regular line moving forward.<\/p>\n There was some speculation on whether or not Ryan Nugent-Hopkins would move back to centre in Draisaitl\u2019s absence, but that does not appear to be the case. He skated on a line with Jason Dickinson and Jack Roslovic, keeping intact a trio that had great results in their first game together against the Predators.<\/p>\n Draisaitl\u2019s linemates, Vasily Podkolzin and Kasperi Kapanen, have been moved down to the third line, where they will have another German pivot in Josh Samanski centring them. Lastly, the fourth line of Max Jones-Adam Henrique-Trent Frederic stayed together.<\/p>\n No changes were made to the defensive group, as Ty Emberson still hasn\u2019t returned to skating after getting injured against the Colorado Avalanche last week.<\/p>\n No starting goalie has been named for Tuesday\u2019s game against the San Jose Sharks, though with Ingram being anointed as the team\u2019s starting goalie<\/a>, he would be a good bet to get the call.<\/p>\n
RNH-Dickinson-Roslovic
Podkolzin-Samanski-Kapanen
Jones-Henrique-Frederic<\/p>\n
Nurse-Murphy
Walman-Stastney<\/p>\n
Jarry <\/p>\n