McDavid, the three-time Hart Trophy winner (regular season MVP), suffered the injury during the team’s 6-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday. While crossing into the attacking zone, McDavid was tripped and his left leg collided with the boards.
After being sent back to Edmonton for further evaluation, the decision was made to sideline the star player for multiple weeks.
Coming off a trip to the Stanley Cup Final in the 2023-24 season, the Oilers are likely looking at this in the long term as they pursue another deep run in the postseason.
While the Oilers have not started this season particularly strong, losing their first three games and currently sitting at 4-5-1, this is nothing new for Edmonton. At this time last season, the Oilers were only 2-5-1 and they still went on to have a ton of success in the postseason.
So far, McDavid has produced three goals and seven assists this season. Since his career began in the 2015-16 season, McDavid has tallied 992 points.
As impressive as McDavid’s career has been so far, there is one statistic that shows just how phenomenal he has been. Per Greg Wyshynski of ESPN, with an average of 1.51 points per game, McDavid only trails “the Great One” Wayne Gretzky (1.92) and Mario Lemieux (1.88) in that category in NHL history.
With McDavid expected to be out multiple weeks, more players on the team are presented with an opportunity to step up, something Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch touched on.
“It’s your captain, your best player. It should be an opportunity for guys to step up and say, ‘Oh, I’ve got this,’ ” Knoblauch said, via NHL.com. “It’s more ice time, more opportunities.”
The Oilers return to the ice on Thursday for a Halloween night showdown against the Nashville Predators.
