There could be many reasons why it appeared that the Edmonton Oilers were underperforming in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The most likely reason is that the forwards were just riddled with injury, and it showed.
After the Oilers’ 5–2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks in Game 6 of Round 1, we’ve learned a lot about what’s been going on inside the dressing room. Their top three centres were fighting injury.
Connor McDavid, Jason Dickinson, and Leon Draisaitl were all playing at less than 100%.
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McDavid had sustained an ankle injury
McDavid sustained what looked to be an ankle injury after a collision with his teammate Mattias Ekholm in Game 2 of the series. The 29-year-old centre left the ice at the time of the incident, but did return to finish the game with over 24 minutes on the ice.
Following that game, McDavid was quoted as saying, “It just got rolled up. It is fine.”
That turned out not to be true. McDavid would be a game-time decision for both Games 5 and 6, and he still played in both. Even getting two assists in Game 5 is still not what you expected from a player labelled as a generational talent.
Following the Oilers ‘ elimination, Head Coach Kris Knoblauch told media the captain was playing with a fracture “around the foot, ankle area.” Knoblauch went on to say that the centre was “playing through a lot of pain.”
Well, the finite details of the injury are still unknown to the public. McDavid described how the fracture limited his ability to play, making “Change of direction, tough. Stops and starts, tough.”
After the Game 6 loss, McDavid was quoted as saying, “Too hurt, too soon,” but he didn’t accept that as an excuse.
“It’s not easy, guys playing through things… It sucks, really. But everyone does it and we needed to find a way to be better and we didn’t, I didn’t.”
McDavid went on to thank the team’s staff for making sure the team was as comfortable as possible as they continued to play through the pain.
Dickinson also with an ankle injury
Moving down the centre depth of the Oilers, Jason Dickinson faced a similar injury to McDavid.
According to Knoblauch, “Both Connor and Dickinson had fractures in the foot/ankle area. I have a lot and admiration for their willingness to battle through and get on the ice.”
The centre, who had just been acquired by the Oilers at this year’s deadline, had missed the last three regular season games. He had blocked a shot in an Oilers win against the San Jose Sharks in early April.
Whilst playing through this dwelling injury, Dickinson managed to score two goals in Game 1, his Oilers playoff debut. This was just the second time in his career he’s put up a two-goal game in the postseason.
Dickinson would then miss both Games 2 and 3 before returning to the lineup for Games 4 through 6. It was evident that the 30-year-old forward was struggling through his ice time. This resulted in a point-less crusade in his final three games.
“It was really frustrating,” said Dickinson on Saturday. “Obviously, I came here with one goal in mind and one thing I wanted to achieve. To go into the playoffs not feeling my best sucked. It was hard mentally to wrap your head around it some days.”
Entering the offseason, Dickinson is now an unrestricted free agent. He played 21 games for the Edmonton Oilers.
Draisaitl fighting a lingering injury
The German superstar sat out the last 14 regular season games, dealing with a lower-body injury sustained on March 15.
His injury is of the least notable though, as he still led the postseason with 10 points despite his team being eliminated. This production is similar to his performance in last year’s first round, in which he had ten points against the Los Angeles Kings.
The details of what this injury might have been are unknown, and it didn’t seem to impact his play all that much. That doesn’t mean he didn’t feel it, though.
“It’s hard,” Draisaitl told media. “Our centres 1, 2, 3, are playing through stuff. But at the end of the day, you have to find ways to win games in any way. You have to grind one out, you have to defend one out. Injuries, they (stink) and it hit us at a bad time certainly. But at the end of the day, they were the better team, and we’ll leave it at that.”
Oilers playoff run ended due to injuries
For the first time since 2021, the Oilers were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. Injuries seem to be the most obvious reason for the loss. This is a drastic difference in success following two Stanley Cup Final appearances in previous years.
“We’ve been searching for consistency all year and obviously we didn’t find it here in the playoffs,” McDavid said. “ It’s tough. We were an average team all year; an average team with high expectations, you’re going to be disappointed. We just never found it.”
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
