A Healthy Leon Draisaitl Could Change Everything for Oilers

There’s a pretty simple reason for Edmonton Oilers fans to feel a little better about the 2026-27 season. Draisaitl says he feels healthy and hopes to be ready for the start of the season. After what happened last year, that might be more important than it sounds.

Draisaitl played just 65 games last season, his lowest total in a full NHL season. He missed the final month with a lower-body injury, came back for the playoffs and still managed to score in all six games against Anaheim. The Oilers were eliminated in the first round, but that early exit also gave Draisaitl something he probably didn't expect: extra time to recover.

The Oilers Need Draisaitl Healthy More Than They Need Him Better.

The funny thing about Draisaitl is that there really isn't much left to ask from him as an individual player. He scored 35 goals and 62 assists in those 65 games last season. That's 97 points in a season in which he missed 17 games. So this isn't really about Draisaitl finding another level. It's about getting him onto the ice for 75 or 80 games and seeing what that does to the Oilers.

That's a pretty big difference. Edmonton can survive a lot of things when Draisaitl is in the lineup. When he's missing, suddenly everybody else has to take on a little more responsibility, and those extra responsibilities tend to pile up pretty quickly.

The fact that he came back for the playoffs and produced in every game against Anaheim also tells us something. The injury clearly wasn't enough to stop him from being Draisaitl when the games mattered most. But perhaps the better news is that he now gets an entire summer to recover rather than trying to patch himself together for another long playoff run.

Maybe Babcock's Biggest Job Is Keeping Draisaitl Fresh.

This is where Mike Babcock becomes interesting. The new Oilers coach doesn't need to teach Draisaitl how to score. He doesn't need to explain how to run a power play or how to create offence. Draisaitl has been doing those things at an elite level for years.

What Babcock does need to figure out is how to get the most out of Edmonton's best players without asking them to carry everything themselves. That's especially important with Draisaitl.

If Edmonton can play a more structured game, defend better and get meaningful contributions from the players underneath its stars, Draisaitl doesn't have to spend every night trying to solve every problem himself. That could help him stay healthier and fresher when the games really start to matter. And that's probably the more interesting question heading into this season.

Nobody needs Draisaitl to prove he's a great player.

Oilers fans already know that. The Oilers need him healthy. They need Babcock to build a team that doesn't depend on him for everything. And they need to find out whether an extra-healthy Draisaitl, playing behind a more organized team, can help Edmonton get past the first round again.

If that happens, the Oilers could look a whole lot different this time next spring.