No, it’s not due to an existential crises after realizing that no matter how well he plays, no matter how points he produces, no matter how many individual awards he captures, he’s never going to raise the Stanley Cup with the Edmonton Oilers. Instead, it’s an upper-body injury suffered in the Oilers 3-2 overtime loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday.
It appeared he tweaked up his hip after a collision with Josh Morrissey in the third period of the game.
McDavid is off to his usual productive start with 8 points (2 goals, 6 assists) in 5 games for the Oilers, but will now miss a handful of games for a team that is off to a 1-3-1 start a year after falling to the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round of the playoffs.
The best player in the league has been fairly durable for the punishment he takes on a nightly basis, playing in 162 regular season games over the last two years and amassing a ridiculous 276 points over that time span. In regards to punishment, he’s taken 232 hits over that same time period (which forward has taken the most hits over the last two season? Brandon Hagel with 364).
If he is out the full two weeks, he will miss five games, including big Western Conference match-ups against Calgary and Dallas. The Oilers can’t afford to drop too many more games this early in the season in what should be a wide open conference. Luckily, they do still have Leon Draisaitl to help carry them through McDavid’s absence.
On a less important note, will McDavid’s time lost cost him another Hart Trophy? Early in the race for MVP, his 8 points had him tied with a host of players for 8th most in the league, but with five fewer games on his resume this year, will it allow for Jack Hughes or William Nylander (that would be awesome) or Nikita Kucherov (even awesomer) to make a case for the best player in the league? I guess we’ll have to stay tuned to find out.
Lightning / NHL News
More thoughts on the loss to the Leafs [Raw Charge – paid subscription needed]
Nikita Kucherov remains very good at hockey. In one man’s opinion (Coach Cooper), Jonas Johansson deserved a star. The team has to be better with the puck. That sums it up pretty well.
Lightning continue to look overmatched in overtime [Tampa Bay Times]
Three-on-three has not been pretty for the Lightning this season.
Why the Lightning’s glory days are ending [Daily FaceOff]
Yes, I do hear Bruce Springsteen in the background when I read that title. Also, bookmark this article so we can gloat if/when the Lightning do pull off another Cup with this core.
Frantz Jean has had it pretty easy the last few years, not quite Jim Sorgi backing up Peyton Manning easy, but when you can rely on Andrei Vasilevskiy to start 60+ games a season, it makes your job as a goaltending coach pretty easy. Still, lasting in any role for 1,000 games is pretty darn special. Steve Yzerman hired him out of the QMJHL in September of 2010 and Jean has worked with a plethora of Lightning netminders over the years (22 by my count). He has his work cut out for him this year with two unproven talents in net for the next month or so.
Pyotr Kochetkov returned to Syracuse [Cap Friendly]
After a brief call-up to the Carolina Hurricanes it appears the young netminder is back on loan with the Crunch. Fred Andersen was shaken up earlier in the week which necessitated the recall, but it appears the veteran is good to go.
Andre Burakovsky out 6-8 weeks [Seattle Times]
It’s been a rough start for last year’s surprise team as the Kraken have started 1-4-1 on the season. Things won’t be easier as one of their top forwards, Andre Burakovsky, will be out of the line-up for awhile with an upper-body injury. Burakovsky left the game against the Rangers on Saturday after Jacob Trouba sent him into the boards.
NHL to review Travis Derott’s use of Pride Tape [The Athletic]
Arizona’s Travis Dermott appears to be the first NHL player to use Pride tape on his stick during a game since the league instituted their idiotic ban on the product as a continuation of their policy of burying their heads in the ice when the word “gay” is mentioned anywhere near the league offices. The question the league has to answer now is if they are going to stand by their words and issue a suspension or fine Dermott for his use of tape with pretty colors.
How do Connor Bedard’s first five games stack up to other scoring aces [For Hockey Fans]
No love for Steven Stamkos on this list? I see you, Todd. Granted, Bedard was 3-years-old when Stammer entered the league (oh man I’m old, I need to go lie down now) so that could have been part of it. In all, not a bad start for the next league-anointed superstar.
