PROJECTED LINEUP: Oilers vs. Stars

EDMONTON, AB – Despite Leon Draisaitl taking part in the morning skate, the German forward will remain out of the lineup on Wednesday night when the Edmonton Oilers wrap up their season series with the Dallas Stars at Rogers Place.

Draisaitl participated in drills but wasn't involved in line rushes as he continues to progress towards making his return from injury after this week's upcoming games against the Stars, Kraken and Flames.

Nonetheless, it was an reassuring sight for his Oilers teammates and coaches to see the League's leading goalscorer back out on the ice and looking like he's getting closer to making his return for the final push of the regular season and into playoffs.

"Obviously, it's just good to see him kind of skating around out there," Kasperi Kapanen said. "We miss Connor and Leon, but I think he's just got to get healthy first and not risk it."

"It's great for us," Mattias Ekholm added. "Obviously, we want him back as soon as possible, but also we want him back healthy at 100 percent. So hopefully, he's not rushing it too much, but it's awesome to have them around."

Draisaitl's return to the lineup is anticipated to arrive slightly ahead of captain Connor McDavid, who also remains out against the Stars after being given a similar week-long recovery timeline for an injury he sustained in the second period of last week's 4-3 overtime loss to the Winnipeg Jets.

"Leon will be back sooner than Connor, but we're looking about a week or maybe shorter for Leon, and Connor will be longer than that," he said.

Winger Kasperi Kapanen was on the second line at left wing beside centre Adam Henrique and Zach Hyman during the pre-game skate in a direct swap with veteran Corey Perry on the fourth line from Saturday night's 5-4 victory over the Seattle Kraken on home ice.

When playing at his best, the Finnish forward brings an element of size and speed to the top six that can mesh with his playmaking ability – much to the current benefit of the Oilers without their two superstars in the lineup, Coach Knoblauch said.

"Probably just confidence with the puck. There's no hesitation like his speed and his playmaking ability," Knoblauch said. "He's a good NHL player and when he's feeling confident, he can really be a force out there and somebody who can make a difference.

"You saw that a couple nights ago where he had numerous scoring chances and made many plays. Right now, he's been playing well and I think when he's on top of his game, he also adds a little bit of speed to our lineup, which is good. He can bring a lot to our team."

That's been the message from the coaching staff to Kapanen as the Oilers look for everyone to accept more responsibility and raise their game in the absence of McDavid and Draisaitl for a few more games.

"Just use my speed and use my size; be on the body a little bit and just be around the net a bit more and hopefully, I'll get a goal or two," Kapanen said. "But just play solid hockey, take care of stuff in the D zone and hopefully contribute in the offensive zone."

Defenceman Mattias Ekholm returned to his regular top pairing with Evan Bouchard at the morning skate after sitting out Monday's team practice due to maintenance, with Edmonton's blueline anticipated to make no changes for the fourth straight game on Wednesday against Dallas.

"It's just one of those things where it's that time of year, right? You've got to nurture it," Ekholm said. "You've got to try to be as close to 100 percent as you can all the time, and I feel like this is probably the time in the schedule where it allows for some rest and we're just trying to do the smart thing to be in the best shape possible come April 18 or whatever it is when the playoff starts."

Ekholm mentioned that he's thought everyone has done a good job raising their individual games without two of the NHL's top players in their lineup.

"I think every single guy in the lineup has brought that extra couple percent that you need to fill that void," Ekholm said. "It's a really hard void to fill. Probably arguably the hardest in the League. I think on any team, you can pick two guys and you get those two out. That's really hard. But I think there's been individuals that have stepped their game.

"I think as a team too, we have an understanding that when you maybe don't have the firepower you normally have, you're going to have to simplify your game and play a complete team game, and I think that everyone to a man has done a really good job of that."

Goaltender Stuart Skinner was between the pipes and is projected to make his third straight start in the first of back-to-back games for the Oilers, with Calvin Pickard poised to take to the crease on Thursday in Seattle at Climate Pledge Arena against the Kraken.

Forward Trent Frederic is still one or two weeks away from beginning to practice with the Oilers after the original plan was to get their impact Trade Deadline addition into the lineup before the end of March, but the recovery process hasn't been as linear as the team had hoped.

"He's been on the ice for a couple times just on his own for light skates, and we are hopeful that he's gonna be with us to maybe start practicing within a week or two," Knoblauch said. "It was an injury where I don't think there was an exact timeline when he was gonna be coming back, so I think there were best-case scenarios and worst-case scenarios, and I think we're probably approaching that worst-case scenario. But no surprises."

Evander Kane has put together a string of good practices with the group over the past few days to give Coach Knoblauch confidence that the 33-year-old could be an option for the Oilers during the Stanley Cup Playoffs sooner rather than later.

"I'm optimistic that he will be available, the type of player he is and how he could help us. Things have been going well," Knoblauch said. "There's been no setbacks, which I think is very important. Often when players are coming back from injury, you have an idea how it's going to go. I think we haven't had any setbacks with him. He's progressing nicely now. He's incorporating going on the ice for practices and right now, it's looking like he'll be ready at some point during playoffs."

View the Oilers Projected Lineup vs. Dallas below:

Podkolzin - Nugent-Hopkins - Arvidsson
Kapanen - Henrique - Hyman
Skinner - Janmark - Brown
Jones - Ryan - Perry

Ekholm - Bouchard
Nurse - Walman
Kulak - Stecher

Skinner
Pickard