Things have quickly gone from bad to worse for the struggling Edmonton Oilers.
In Saturday’s home game against the Winnipeg Jets, Oilers captain Connor McDavid suffered an injury and was visibly in pain. In an update, the Oilers announced on Sunday that he’ll miss 1-2 weeks with an upper-body injury.
The Oilers went on to lose 3-2, dropping them to 1-3-1 on the season. Now they must find a way to climb out of this early-season hole without the best player on the planet.
Of course, the season is awfully young, and there’s plenty of time for the Oilers to make up ground in the standings. Even with the loss on Saturday, they’re two points behind the Los Angeles Kings for third in the Pacific Division and as many points out of the final wild card spot in the Western Conference.
The 26-year-old McDavid is off to another incredible start, with two goals and six assists in five games. McDavid has won each of the last three scoring titles, including ridiculous career-highs in goals (64) and points (153) a year ago. The five-time scoring champion has also won the Hart Trophy in two of the last three years (2021 and 2023).
Obviously, there is no replacing a player like McDavid. But they’ll need fellow stars Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Zach Hyman and Evan Bouchard to step up with McDavid out.
