{"id":556690,"date":"2026-04-20T13:24:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T13:24:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/556690\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T13:24:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T13:24:17","slug":"oilers-draisaitl-dickinson-could-be-in-lineup-for-game-1-against-ducks-the-hockey-writers-edmonton-oilers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/556690\/","title":{"rendered":"Oilers’ Draisaitl & Dickinson Could be in Lineup For Game 1 Against Ducks – The Hockey Writers – Edmonton Oilers"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Edmonton Oilers<\/a> are heading into Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round against the Anaheim Ducks<\/a> with some massive news on the injury front<\/a>. Both Leon Draisaitl<\/a> and Jason Dickinson<\/a> were full participants in practice on Sunday, and while the medical staff still needs to give the final green light, the signs are pointing toward a nearly healthy lineup for Monday<\/a> night at Rogers Place.<\/p>\n

Draisaitl & Dickinson Add Huge Boost to Lineup\u00a0<\/p>\n

Draisaitl hasn\u2019t played a game since March 15 after suffering a lower-body injury<\/a> against the Nashville Predators. He ended up missing the final 14 games of the regular season and finished just shy of his fifth straight 100-point season. Seeing him back on the second line during Sunday\u2019s skate is about as big of a boost as this team could ask for.<\/p>\n

He was also back in his usual spot on the top power-play unit. And while he was cautious in his comments to the media<\/a>, saying, \u201cI feel good; we\u2019ll see how it feels tomorrow,\u201d he has been practicing since April 13, suggesting he\u2019s trending toward playing. Having the ninth-leading scorer in the league back in the lineup changes the dynamic of this series and gives the Oilers two legitimate scoring threats that Anaheim will have to deal with.<\/p>\n

\"LeonEdmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl (Perry Nelson-Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

Dickinson was another big addition at practice on Sunday. He had missed the final three games of the regular season after blocking a shot<\/a> against the San Jose Sharks but looked comfortable centering a third line during the skate.<\/p>\n

He was brought in at the trade deadline<\/a> to provide exactly the kind of playoff depth and defensive responsibility this team needs in a seven-game series. His return allows head coach Kris Knoblauch to move Adam Henrique down to the fourth line, which gives them a more balanced look. If he is cleared to play, it gives Edmonton the kind of middle-six stability they were missing during the final stretch of the season.<\/p>\n

Oilers\u2019 Game 1 Lineup with Draisaitl & Dickinson<\/p>\n

If Draisaitl and Dickinson are back in the lineup for Game 1, here\u2019s a look at what their lineup could be<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Forwards:<\/p>\n

Matthew Savoie \u2013 Connor McDavid \u2013 Zach Hyman<\/p>\n

Vasily Podkolzin \u2013 Leon Draisaitl \u2013 Kasperi Kapanen\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins \u2013 Jason Dickinson \u2013 Jack Roslovic<\/p>\n

Colton Dach \u2013 Adam Henrique \u2013 Trent Frederic\u00a0<\/p>\n

Defence:<\/p>\n

Mattias Ekholm \u2013 Evan Bouchard<\/p>\n

Darnell Nurse \u2013 Connor Murphy<\/p>\n

Jake Walman \u2013 Ty Emberson<\/p>\n

Goalies:<\/p>\n

Connor Ingram<\/p>\n

Tristian Jarry<\/p>\n

Scratched: Curtis Lazar, Joshua Samanski, Spencer Stastney & Calvin Pickard<\/p>\n

Obviously, without Draisaitl and Dickinson in their lineup, things would look very different. So, the hope is that their medical staff gives them the green light and they can get back into the lineup and help the Oilers compete for a Stanley Cup.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As the 2026 NHL playoffs move along, be sure to continue following\u00a0The Hockey Writers\u00a0as your source for news, updates, and more from around the NHL and the hockey world.<\/p>\n

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\n <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Edmonton Oilers are heading into Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round against the Anaheim Ducks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":517049,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5125],"tags":[20557,198,146,5300,5,4446,370,4,24],"class_list":{"0":"post-556690","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edmonton-oilers","8":"tag-2026-stanley-cup-playoffs","9":"tag-edmonton","10":"tag-edmonton-oilers","11":"tag-edmontonoilers","12":"tag-hockey","13":"tag-jason-dickinson","14":"tag-leon-draisaitl","15":"tag-nhl","16":"tag-oilers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116437259115465525","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=556690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556690\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/517049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=556690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=556690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=556690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}