Edmonton Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl’s injury revealed to be high ankle sprain
The injury news keeps coming for the Edmonton Oilers, this time regarding center Leon Draisaitl, who played through a high ankle sprain in the postseason.
"He was playing with a high ankle sprain. He got hurt in Game 6 against LA when Mikey Anderson body-slammed him. He was playing in a lot of pain." -Holland on Draisaitl
— x-Oilersnation.com, Oily Since ‘07 (@OilersNation) June 8, 2022Oilers general manager Ken Holland confirmed that the injury was in fact a high ankle sprain with the media on Wednesday morning. Draisaitl suffered the injury in Game 6 of the Oilers’ first round series against the Los Angeles Kings, when defenseman Mikey Anderson threw him to the ice during a post-whistle scrum. Draisaitl had since been playing through the injury for the remainder of that series, as well as the second round against the Calgary Flames and the third round against the Colorado Avalanche.
While it was noticeable that he struggled with the injury during the Oilers’ playoff run, it didn’t affect his production. He managed to put up two points per game, with seven goals and 32 points in 16 games.
Draisaitl wasn’t the only Oiler playing through an injury during the playoffs. Defenseman Darnell Nurse confirmed that he played through a torn hip flexor after Game 4, while forwards Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jesse Puljujarvi dealt with shoulder injuries, and Kailer Yamamoto was in concussion protocol after he was hit in Game 2.