Speaking to reporters Monday, Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said that he was “not ruling out” the return of the German forward for Game 1 of the playoffs.

“There’s a period of time that we anticipated him returning and, as we said, it’s going to be right around the end of the regular season, the start of the playoffs, and if he gets into that first game, that’s great, but he has not been on the ice yet,” Knoblauch said. “We anticipate he will be on the ice sometime this week, we’ll have an indication of how that’s going to go, but it’ll probably be sometime in that first round.”

Knoblauch added that Draisaital will be back on the ice practising this week, but is unlikely to get into any actual games.

“Leon is going to be on the ice this week, and I don’t anticipate him playing any games in the regular season,” the Oilers coach said. “And then playoffs, sometime in that first round if things go well.”

Draisaitl has been out since he was forced to leave a March 15 game with a lower-body injury.

The 30-year-old had put up 35 goals and 97 points in 65 games played before being forced out of the lineup.

Fellow Edmonton forward Zach Hyman is also slated to miss time of the next week or so, but Knoblauch isn’t ruling him out for the last few games of the season.

“I would think (Hyman) could play one if not two games before the end of the season,” said Knoblauch. “So this week he’s not playing.”

Hyman left Saturday’s loss to the Vegas Golden Knights with an undisclosed injury. The 33-year-old has 31 goals and 51 points in 57 games for Edmonton this season.

The Oilers have amassed a 39-29-9 record, but their 87 points are tied with the Anaheim Ducks for tops in the Pacific Division. They have five games in the regular season left to play. Their final contest goes on April 16 when they host the Vancouver Canucks.