Leon Draisaitl To Take Brief Leave Of Absence

The Oilers will be without one of their superstars for the next few games.  The team announced that center Leon Draisaitl will be stepping away from the team to attend to a family illness back home in Germany.  He is currently expected to rejoin the team at some point next week.

Once again, the 30-year-old is among not only Edmonton’s top scorers but the rest of the league as well.  Draisaitl has 25 goals and 42 assists in 48 games so far this season, putting him second on the team in scoring behind Connor McDavid (who is tied with Nathan MacKinnon for the league lead with 82).  Meanwhile, his 67 points are fifth overall, behind those two along with Macklin Celebrini and Nikita Kucherov.

In his absence, the Oilers will have to decide if they want to move Ryan Nugent-Hopkins back down the middle and take him off McDavid’s line.  Alternatively, Jack Roslovic could move up to the second line to take Draisaitl’s spot.  Meanwhile, his absence should pave the way for Andrew Mangiapane to return to the lineup; the speculated trade candidate has been a frequent healthy scratch as of late.

Edmonton is currently carrying a full 23-player roster.  Draisaitl is eligible to be moved to non-roster status if needed which would allow them to recall a replacement player from AHL Bakersfield.  However, with only $270K in LTIR room at the moment per PuckPedia, other moves would need to be made in order for them to be able to afford to bring someone else up.