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Edmonton Oilers reveal lines with McDavid and Draisaitl out

Colton Pankiw
Colton Pankiw
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Mar 22 2025, 4:49 pm
Edmonton Oilers reveal lines with McDavid and Draisaitl out
Perry Nelson/Imagn Images

The Edmonton Oilers could be in tough for tonight’s game against the Seattle Kraken.

Tonight’s outing will mark the second-straight game without Leon Draisaitl, who suffered an injury on Tuesday versus the Utah Hockey Club. As if that weren’t bad enough, Connor McDavid was then injured on Thursday versus the Winnipeg Jets, and will also be out of the lineup this evening.

With his two-headed duo out of the lineup, head coach Kris Knoblauch has been forced to revamp his lines in a way that gives his team a shot to pick up a big two points this evening.

The Oilers will have Ryan Nugent-Hopkins centring Vasily Podkolzin and Viktor Arvidsson on the first line, while Adam Henrique will get the bump up to second-line centre alongside Corey Perry and Zach Hyman. Mattias Janmark will centre the third line with Jeff Skinner and Connor Brown.

Meanwhile, Derek Ryan, who was recently called up from the AHL, will suit up for his first game with the Oilers since Jan. 11. He will centre the fourth line with Max Jones and Kasperi Kapanen on his sides.

These lines are far from ideal for the Oilers, as they are without two of the game’s best players who have combined for 191 points on the season. There is some very good news, however, as head coach Kris Knoblauch confirmed both are short-term injuries, with neither expected to miss more than a week’s time.

After a rough stretch coming out of the 4 Nations Face-Off break, the Oilers have got back on track with points in four straight. They currently sit three points back of the Vegas Golden Knights for first place in the Pacific Division.

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