The Edmonton Oilers will kickoff their 2026 Stanley Cup bid at home, facing the Anaheim Ducks in the opening round of the 2025-26 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Despite head coach Kris Knoblauch trying to be a little cryptic at morning skate, the Oilers announced Monday that they have activated Leon Draisaitl off Long Term Injured Reserve (LTIR). The presence of the Oilers star forward will surely give them an enormous boost of talent and experience.
The Oilers experience could be a huge difference maker as they look to take game one on home ice against the Ducks.
Draisaitl will help inject much needed boost for Oilers
EDM lines & pairings - Sunday’s practice:
— Tony Brar 🚀 (@TonyBrarOTV) April 19, 2026
Savoie - McDavid - Hyman
Podkolzin - Draisaitl - Kapanen
RNH - Dickinson - Roslovic
Dach - Henrique - Frederic
Lazar - Samanski
Ekholm - Bouchard
Nurse - Murphy
Walman - Emberson
Stastney#Oilers
The Oilers have been rolling consistent lines in practice and look to hope to spread out their wealth upfront. The lines are spread out well with captain Connor McDavid centering rookie Matthew Savoie and his wingman Zach Hyman. While Draisaitl centres the second line between speedy and skilled forechecking wingers Vasily Podkolzin and Kasperi Kapanen.
On the third line, they have defensive shutdown centre Jason Dickinson, who may still be out for this game, between veteran core member Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jack Roslovic. On the fourth line is a grinding line of veteran centre Adam Henrique with the newly minted "bash brothers" wingers with Colton Dach and Trent Frederic.
On the backend, the defensive pairing with the second most minutes logged together is Mattias Ekholm and Evan Bouchard who look to be the Oilers' top pair. Then, Darnell Nurse with Connor Murphy to his right, providing an offensive-defensive balance and Jake Walman with Ty Emberson doing the same.
Oilers to watch
Connor Ingram
Making just his fourth start in the NHL playoffs, Connor Ingram looks to impress and set the tone against what could easily become a goaltending battle. The veteran Oilers and highly skilled young Ducks have strong firepower on either side, something that could favour whoever the hot goaltender is.
Leon Draisaitl
Coming off LTIR after an indiscriminate hit on March 15th, Draisaitl returns to the Oilers hoping to provide them the scoring punch and the much needed depth to beat the Ducks. It will be good to see both how he performs coming off the sidelines after over a month. Aside from being an important player for the Oilers he has been one of the top scorers across the entire NHL in both the regular season and playoffs.
Jason Dickinson
Acquired at the deadline to be used as a shutdown defensive centre, Dickinson will surely be utilized to help suppress the Ducks strong offence. It will be interesting to watch how he does with favourable home ice advantages.
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