There is good news coming out of Edmonton as TSN’s Ryan Rishaug is reporting that Connor McDavid’s recovery from a bruised knee is going better than expected. Further to that, he could be back far sooner than most anticipated.
Rishaug writes:
Sounds like McDavids recovery is going well. He’s getting treatment, working out and will have further testing Tuesday to see where things are at. He’s expected to rejoin the team in Edmonton in the next 2-3 days. (Corrected an earlier tweet saying test was Monday)
This is not to say that McDavid will be playing in 2-3 days, only that he will potentially rejoin the team at that time. Edmonton plays against the Boston Bruins on Wednesday and the Minnesota Wild on Friday. The Wild game is five days from today, which means there is a chance the Oilers could have him in the lineup if the additional testing goes well. Some of that could depend on the Oilers record leading into the Wild game.
This is excellent news for the Oilers, especially if they can pull out another win against the Carolina Hurricanes Sunday. 2-1 in their three games since McDavid went down, the worry was Edmonton couldn’t weather the storm, but a 3-1 record would put them in a good position and McDavid’s return would come at a perfect time.
It doesn’t necessarily change Edmonton’s need to find linemates to play with McDavid when he returns as Edmonton’s former top line is all out with McDavid, Zack Kassian and James Neal sidelined or sitting out. Fortunately, Leon Draisaitl, Kailer Yamamoto and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins have been carrying the load.
Just learning McDavid likely won’t be out as long as originally expected is good to hear but there was some speculation the Oilers purposely over-exaggerated his absence so they could deliver good news when he was able to return a bit earlier than projected.
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