The Edmonton Oilers battled against four playoff opponents, including the Vancouver Canucks, before finally bowing out in Game 7 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final on Monday evening.
One of the hardest-fought series the Oilers endured on their path to the Final was against the Vancouver Canucks, who they faced off against in the Western Conference semifinals.
According to a report by OilersNation‘s Zach Laing, both Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl played through injuries during the Oilers’ playoff run. Draisaitl reportedly sustained a broken rib as a result of a hit by Canucks defenceman Tyler Myers during Game 1 of the seven-game series between Edmonton and Vancouver.
The war of attrition took its toll on the Oilers. Head coach Kris Knoblauch didn’t divulge any information Monday night after the loss, but both Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have been playing through significant injuries, Oilersnation has learned. McDavid has played through an abdominal injury that likely requires surgery, while Draisaitl has been banged up too, I’ve been told. He’s believed to be dealing with a broken rib and finger, the former of which [he] suffered in Game 1 against Vancouver when he was hit by Tyler Myers. It’s nothing new for a laundry list of players to be dealing with injuries after deep playoff runs, and surely we’ll hear of more in the coming days.
Draisaitl, 28, finished third on the Oilers with 31 points (10 goals, 21 assists) in 25 games during the 2024 playoffs. He did not score a goal against the Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final.
The Oilers and Canucks engaged in a full-on war during their hard-fought Round 2 matchup, which ended with Edmonton coming back from a 3-2 series deficit to win Game 7 by a 3-2 score. They proceeded to defeat the Dallas Stars in six games in the Western Conference Final before falling to the Panthers in seven.
Myers, 34, is a pending unrestricted free agent coming off his best season in a Canucks sweater. The 6’8″ right-handed defender collected five goals and 29 points in 77 games during the regular season before adding an assist in 12 playoff contests.
A trio of former Canucks players (Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Jack Studnicka, and Jonah Gadjovich), as well as former Canucks prospect Gustav Forsling, won the Stanley Cup on Monday night when the Panthers defeated the Oilers by a 2-1 score in Game 7.
