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The Edmonton Oilers celebrate a goal scored by defensemen Evan Bouchard (Perry Nelson-Imagn Images)

Oilers Continue to Succeed Without Draisaitl

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers | By Brian Swane | Last updated Mar 19, 2026 11:15 AM ET

Just hours after announcing that superstar centre Leon Draisaitl is expected to miss the rest of the 2025-26 NHL regular season with a lower-body injury, the Edmonton Oilers defeated the San Jose Sharks by a score of 5-3 in front of a sellout crowd at Rogers Place on Tuesday (March 17) night.

With that victory, Edmonton (34-26-9, 77 points) moved six points clear of the Seattle Kraken (31-27-9, 71 points) and Los Angeles Kings (28-24-15, 71 points), who are tied for the last playoff spot in the Western Conference, and seven points in front of San Jose (32-28-6, 70 points).

Following games on Wednesday (March 18), the Oilers sit second in the Pacific Division, one point behind the Anaheim Ducks (37-27-4, 78 points) and one point ahead of the Vegas Golden Knights (31-23-14, 76 points). There are four weeks remaining in the season.

Business as Usual for Oilers

The news about Draisaitl, who was injured during Edmonton’s 3-1 victory over the Nashville Predators on Sunday (March 15), caused great consternation in Oil Country, with Oilers fans fearing that his absence could result in their favourite team missing the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

But there was no panic in the locker room of the Oilers, who simply went about their business on Tuesday and picked up two massive points against a divisional foe in the Western Conference postseason race. And just like that, all the panic-stricken fans in Edmonton were able to take a deep breath.

As it turns out, the Oilers can still play some pretty good hockey when Draisaitl is not in the lineup. In fact, lately they’ve been very tough to beat without him.

Oilers Are 3-1-0 in 2025-26 Without Draisaitl

Going back to last April, the Oilers have a record of 7-2-0 without Draisaitl in their lineup, and they’ve outscored the opposition 32-16 over those nine games. When Draisaitl doesn’t play this season, Edmonton is 3-1-0 while outscoring opponents 17-5 (Draisaitl missed three games in January while being away from the team to attend to a family illness). In six of the last nine games that Draisaitl hasn’t been in their lineup, the Oilers have scored at least four goals.

No one is suggesting that Edmonton is a better team without Draisaitl. That would be absurd. Over the last decade, Draisaitl has had the second-most goals in the NHL and has more points than any NHL player other than his Oilers teammate Connor McDavid. The 30-year-old German has 35 goals in 65 games this season, putting him well on pace for the seventh 40-plus goal season of his career. Simply put, he’s one of the best players on the planet.

But there is something to be said for Edmonton’s recent success when Draisaitl doesn’t play, and it may pay dividends when he does return to the lineup.

Depth Players Step Up for Oilers

The Oilers needed more from everyone on Tuesday, and they got it. Ten different forwards were in the scoring summary, but centre Adam Henrique was the only Oiler to record more than two points. It was the veteran’s first multi-point game since Dec. 4.

Meanwhile, the winning goal was scored by the player who took Draisaitl’s spot in the lineup: Max Jones, who was appearing in only his 10^th game of 2025-26.

This is in keeping with how Edmonton has been handling things while Draisaitl is indisposed. When he was sidelined at the end of the 2024-25 regular season, Edmonton won four of its final five games, while not getting a single goal from any of its top four scorers for the season: McDavid, Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and, of course, Draisaitl.

Knoblauch Forced to Adjust Lineup

Not only does Draisaitl’s absence require that other members of the Oilers step up, but it also forces coach Kris Knoblauch to give greater opportunities to his depth players.

Knoblauch is known for relying heavily on his top lines, double-shifting them at the expense of forwards in the bottom six, especially during scenarios when the Oilers find themselves trailing. McDavid plays the most minutes of any forward in the NHL (23:06 per game), while Draisaitl ranks fourth (21:35 per game).

With Draisaitl sidelined, those 21-plus minutes are spread throughout the roster. So it might not be coincidental that Tuesday’s victory saw one of the best top-to-bottom performances from Edmonton’s lineup.

Depth Players Get Chance to Contribute

One of the biggest criticisms of the Oilers is that they lack depth. But do they lack depth, or is it just that their depth players haven’t been put in a position to contribute?

Regardless, what everyone can agree on is that the Oilers will need everyone on board if they’re going to make the drive to a third straight Stanley Cup Final. And with a lot of new faces in the mix (of the 20 players who dressed for Edmonton on Tuesday, nine have never appeared in a playoff game as a member of the Oilers, four of whom weren’t even part of the organization four months ago), Edmonton needs its players to gain both familiarity of playing with one another and the understanding how they can best contribute as part of this roster.

Most importantly, they need to be in midseason form and playing with confidence. These are all upshots that can be silver linings in the absence of Draisaitl, so that when he comes back, Edmonton will be that much better.

Draisaitl’s Absence Can Be ‘Blessing in Disguise’

Oilers general manager Stan Bowman even went so far as to say on Wednesday that Draisaitl missing the rest of the regular season could be a blessing in disguise.

“The blessing in disguise is it forces everyone to play more who normally just wouldn’t get those minutes,” Bowman said in an article on NHL.com. “It’s not what we wanted, but I think it sometimes helps your team when guys get their individual games going more.”

Edmonton has 13 games remaining on its schedule. The Oilers are back in action on Thursday (March 19) when they host the Florida Panthers at Rogers Place.