The Edmonton Oilers will be without Connor McDavid, their number one center—and the number one overall draft pick from this past June’s NHL Entry Draft—for “months,” according to Oilers general manager Peter Chiarelli.
McDavid went down with a broken clavicle late in the second period of a 4-2 win against the Philadelphia Flyers earlier this week. He had surgery Wednesday to repair the break.
“Connor is such a special player at such a young age, that it’s disappointing,” Chiarelli said. “Today feels like a loss, where we won last night, but it feels like a loss. But we’ll get by it. We have a good staff here, we have good players, and we do have a little momentum here and we’ll build on that.”
McDavid is currently second on the team in points with 12 and has already shown flashes of the brilliance that made many scouts refer to him as a “generational” player of the likes the league hasn’t seen since Sidney Crosby.
“It just [stinks],” said Oilers forward and former number one overall draft pick Taylor Hall. “He’s a guy that was really coming on for us. Personally, and as a team, we were really feeling him in our lineup and it was just bad timing all around. He’s a guy that’s going to fight through it and he’s going to come back strong, but that doesn’t negate the fact that we’re going to be without a great player and a great kid for a long time.”
The Oilers are already missing Jordan Eberle, who sustained a shoulder injury during the preseason. He’s expected to return to the lineup next week.
“What’s important is just to move forward,” Chiarelli said. “Teams suffer catastrophic injuries and teams figure it out. It’s something that the team, the guys, have to step up. They will miss Connor, but he will be back. He’ll be like a trade acquisition when he comes back, which will be nice, and we move on.”
McDavid, who will turn 19 in January, has five goals and seven assists in 13 games this season. “It just [stinks],” Oilers left wing Taylor Hall said. “He’s a guy that was really coming on for us. Personally, and as a team, we were really feeling him in our lineup and it was just bad timing all around. He’s a guy that’s going to fight through it and he’s going to come back strong, but that doesn’t negate the fact that we’re going to be without a great player and a great kid for a long time.”
McDavid, who will turn 19 in January, has five goals and seven assists in 13 games. He was named Rookie of the Month for October earlier this week.
