Hockey Hotline: Expect Leon Draisaitl Back for Playoff Power Surge!

The Edmonton Oilers will have to continue their playoff push without one of their stars in Leon Draisaitl for the foreseeable future. On Tuesday, the Oilers announced that Draisaitl is expected to miss the rest of the regular season after sustaining a lower-body injury against the Nashville Predators on Sunday. Draisaitl took a hard hit against the boards early in Sunday's game against the Predators from Ozzy Wiesblatt and ended up leaving the game due to the injury.

As part of Edmonton's one-two punch with Connor McDavid, Draisaitl is a driving force for this Oilers squad. This season, Draisaitl has 35 goals and 97 points, which will be hard production to replace as Edmonton looks to keep ahold of a playoff spot before the postseason. As of March 17, the Oilers sit third in the Pacific Division with 75 points and are up on the Los Angeles Kings by four points with a month of games to play.

According to ESPN , Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said that on Sunday, the team's medical staff implied that "it shouldn't be a really long injury" for their star. However, does that mean Draisaitl will return for the playoffs? Right now, it's hard to say, but given the official language on the injury report specifies that Draisaitl is out for the regular season, it's possible he'll return to Edmonton's lineup for the playoffs should they continue to hold onto their spot.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Leon Draisaitl injury update: Will Oilers star be back for playoffs?