A collective sigh of relief could be heard across the prairies as the latest update on Connor McDavid’s injury came from Elliotte Friedman on Wednesday morning.
Connor McDavid out week-to-week
From Friedman’s update, it’s looking like McDavid will be missing at least the next couple of weeks. While the timeline is not certain, this puts the minimum number of games at six if the two-week timeline is retroactive to the night of the injury.
However, the wording from Friedman suggests it’s at least two weeks and that two-week target of returning on November 12 against the New York Islanders seems unlikely. The Oilers will play one more game at home on November 14 against the Nashville Predators before going on a three-game Eastern Canada road trip.
That road trip would be a good target on McDavid’s return, where he could either travel with the team or stay at home to get fully healthy.
McDavid’s path back to game action
McDavid’s ultra-competiveness will likely see him wanting to return as soon as possible, but there are long-term implications here, from injury reserve and salary cap management to the player’s individual load management.
The regular season is a marathon and the Oilers just got out of a gruelling and lengthy playoff run. It might be best to use this time to let the team keep meshing and see how things go over the next few weeks before rushing to any decision on McDavid’s return.
No matter how it’s looked at, this week-to-week injury needs to be taken with the positives, and the fact that it’s just a short-term injury might be the biggest positive of the whole situation.
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
8 Comments