NHL Updates: Leon Draisaitl takes leave, Colin Miller out, Samuel Montembeault in net

This NHL weekend is becoming strange for some teams because of lineup changes and player absences starting to affect the team's plans. Leon Draisaitl of Edmonton is taking a short break, the Winnipeg Jets are taking care of Colin Miller’s recovery, and Montreal is putting Samuel Montembeault in the net. All these changes are already impacting the teams' tactics and playing time decisions.

The teams all over the league are facing new difficulties as the season progresses. The case may be that a player has been temporarily released, a player is recovering from an injury, or a player has been made the starting goaltender, no matter what type of condition these developments are causing the teams of Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Montreal to influence the coaches’ strategies of handling that.

How are Leon Draisaitl, Colin Miller, and Samuel Montembeault impacting team plans this weekend?

Leon Draisaitl from the Edmonton Oilers has taken a short break to deal with a family issue in Germany. He is going to miss the game on Saturday against the Vancouver Canucks and probably also Sunday against the St. Louis Blues. During this session, Draisaitl has scored 25 goals, distributed 42 assists, and has 67 points in 48 games.
Defenseman for the Winnipeg Jets, Colin Miller, will be out for a week or two after undergoing surgery on his knee. During a fight with Arseny Grisyuk, he got hurt and, up to now, he only added one point to the team in 15 matches while getting 13 minutes and 45 seconds of ice time per game. During the recovery phase, Miller has been placed on the injured reserve.
The goaltender of the Montreal Canadiens, Samuel Montembeault, will play on Saturday vs the Ottawa Senators. This will be his 18th start of the season after the team has decided to end their three-goalie rotation by sending Jacob Fowler to the Laval Rocket. In his last game, Montembeault faced 39 shots and currently has a 3.35 goals-against average and an .874 save percentage.

With Draisaitl taking a short break, Miller getting back to normal, and Montembeault being the goalie on the field, NHL teams are quickly adjusting to keep their chances of winning. Such transformations highlight the fact that players’ absence and injuries can, without a doubt, change team strategies and performance right away.