Oilers' Leon Draisaitl dealt with ankle sprain throughout playoffs
One didn't have to be a doctor to realize that Edmonton Oilers star forward Leon Draisaitl was struggling with some sort of right foot ailment this spring, particularly during the Western Conference Final against the Colorado Avalanche that ended on Monday via a Colorado sweep.
Edmonton general manager Ken Holland confirmed the nature of the setback during Wednesday's end-of-season media availability.
According to Kristen Shilton of ESPN, Holland told reporters that Draisaitl was dealing with a high-ankle sprain that he initially suffered in a collision with Los Angeles Kings forward Mikey Anderson during Game 6 of the first-round playoff series between those sides. The 26-year-old nevertheless managed to tally two goals and 24 total points across the subsequent 10 contests up through Monday evening.
Per Shilton, Draisaitl became only the second player in NHL history to record three or more points in seven postseason matchups, and he also set a league record by accumulating six straight multi-assist playoff games.
As noted by ESPN stats, Draisaitl entered Wednesday second among all players behind only teammate Connor McDavid (33 points) with 32 points (seven goals) across 16 postseason games. Draisaitl leads the league for the postseason tournament with 25 assists.
"I'm sure everyone saw the video, the clip of what happened," Draisaitl told reporters without revealing the exact issue on Tuesday. "I'm sure you can figure out what type of injury it was by watching the clip."
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