Nobody panic, but Leon Draisaitl has suffered an eye injury AND POSSIBLY A CONCUSSION and will not be playing tonight.

The Oilers were pretty mum on the injury for most of the week as Leon missed three straight days of practice. It started with just a “swollen eye” but Jim Matheson was reporting that the blurred vision from the injured eye isn’t the only concern. The concussion issues that may be affecting Draisaitl throw a lot of doubt onto the forward lines.

Last season the players in Edmonton’s top 6 missed a single game. The injury situation could not have been better for the Oil, and that’s something I think a lot of people have really overlooked. The team really only lost significant time from people who were at the bottom of the depth charts. If Draisaitl misses any real amount of time with an eye/brain injury then the club loses a massive amount of offense it was counting on.

The problem with Draisaitl is that he is in a unique position to hold down 1.5 spots on the roster. He is the 1RW but also factors into the centre depth calculation. Despite not being the “Centre” on his line, Draisaitl leads the Oilers in faceoffs taken with 51. Connor McDavid has only taken 11 draws this season through three games.

So Edmonton not only loses their 2nd leading scorer, they are losing their top faceoff man. The fallout from this is that it appears Yamamoto will be starting the game alongside McDavid. If McLellan actually gives this combination a real chance then this will be Yamamoto’s biggest opportunity to date. The rookie will have to rise to this occasion if the Oil want to stop the skid they’re on.

Beyond the 1st line, Kassian looks like he’s been elevated to be Nuge’s winger. Kassian is probably the best choice in terms of ability, size, and production. I personally think that last sentence is a damning statement on the job Chiarelli has done building this club. That said, Kassian was drafted 11th overall because of that mix of traits and it’s possible that he may show what he can do with more than 12 minutes a night.

As for Slepyshev and Pakarinen…let’s pray they are actually ready to contribute more than flashes of effectiveness. Both have looked really good a different points in their Oiler careers. Slepyshev has a bullish quality when he’s on his game that can be difficult to defend against. Pakarinen has an incredible shot for a 4th liner and he was a volume shooter in the AHL before jumping to this level.

With Draisaitl gone, all of these players need to pull their socks up and play the way they can.

LINEUP

Caggiula and Draisaitl were out all week in practice. Auvitu comes in on the blueline.

Maroon McDavid Yamamoto
Lucic RNH Kassian
Jokinen Strome Slepyshev
Khaira Letestu Pakarinen

Klefbom Larsson
Nurse Russell
Auvity Gryba

Talbot

OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME

1) Left Wing. If the story of the game is the inexperience and uncertainty on the right side of the forward lines, then that means the experienced and established left side needs to take care of the heavy lifting. With Maroon, Lucic, and Jokinen on the left, the Oilers have enough size, talent, and smarts to run effective lines. Maroon and Lucic have 5 points between them, but zero goals. Jokinen has yet to record his first point as an Oiler. We are looking for goals from these men. There ought to be close to 50 between Lucic and Maroon when the season is through. Time to get going.

2) OV2. Johann Auvitu is getting into his regular season debut tonight. He’s a very mobile defender along the lines of Darnell Nurse in terms of style. He lacks the physicality of Nurse, but he seems very confident transporting the puck and joining the attack, based on his preseason work. The 2nd pairing of Benning and Russell was a disaster (predictably) and the team needs to find a look that is going to be functional. The plan today, I believe, is to keep Russell on the 2nd pairing. So the problem still hasn’t been diagnosed by the coaching staff. We will keep an eye to see if Auvitu’s natural offensive instincts can outweigh any defensive liabilities in his game.

3) Tired Sens? The Senators just played and beat down the Flames last night. Teams on back to back nights typically have a let-down, but we are very early in to the season and the trip from Calgary to Edmonton is a short one. We are hopeful that the Senators take their foot off the gas just a little bit after winning 6-0 last night. Either way, the Oilers need to come out of the gate better than they have so far. Edmonton has to push the pace of this game early and aim to outlast the Sens right through the 3rd period. It can’t just be McDavid either. In any event, it should be an interesting test for Edmonton after taking most of the week off.

Puck drops at 8PM Mountain Time on Hockey Night in Canada. Gam On!

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