Leon Draisaitl's injury could dramatically change NHL Western Conference playoff race

The Edmonton Oilers announced on Tuesday that superstar forward Leon Draisaitl is going to miss the remainder of the regular season due to a lower-body injury that he suffered this week. 

Draisaitl is the NHL's fourth-leading scorer with 97 points, and along with Connor McDavid is one of the biggest driving forces behind the Oilers even being in a playoff spot entering play on Tuesday.

His injury not only significantly weakens the Oilers lineup. It also creates a potential opening for some other teams in the Western Conference playoff race.

Oilers have major work to do to hold on to a playoff spot

The biggest issue for the Oilers with Draisaitl's absence is that the team performs so poorly when neither he or McDavid is on the ice.

During 5-on-5 play this season, the Oilers are being outscored 39-69 when neither player is on the ice, and an extended absence from Draisaitl means even more ice time for the depth players to have to fill. So far this season, they have failed to produce. It has been a perfect storm of bad scoring depth, bad defense and even worse goaltending to create an environment where the entire team is mostly dependent on its two best players.

Where it really becomes problematic is in the playoff race where the Oilers do not have a ton of wiggle room. 

Entering play on Tuesday, they occupied the third playoff spot in the Pacific Division, with a four-point lead over the Los Angeles Kings and a five-point lead over the San Jose Sharks. Both teams are on the outside of the playoff picture and are two of the teams Edmonton has to finish ahead of to secure a spot in the postseason. 

While making up four- or five-point gaps this late in the season is usually extremely difficult, both teams have games in hand remaining on the Oilers. The Sharks, for example, play three more games than the Oilers the rest of the way and also play two head-to-head games where they can make up ground. That changes the math significantly, especially when the Oilers are going to be without one of their two best and most important players. 

Edmonton still has McDavid, but there is only so much he can do. Its depth is about to be put to the test, and that is going to leave the door open for an already tight playoff race to get even closer in the stretch run.