The Edmonton Oilers anticipate being without Connor McDavid for the next two to three weeks because of a lower-body injury he sustained in the first shift of a 6-1 loss in Columbus on Monday.
McDavid returned to Edmonton on Tuesday for further evaluation after he was limited to 37 seconds of action against the Blue Jackets. The superstar captain appeared to be tripped by defenseman Zach Werenski at the offensive blue line, which resulted in him crashing into the boards. McDavid got up but was noticeably uncomfortable as he glided to the bench favoring his left leg and didn’t return to the game. There was no penalty on the play.
The Oilers (4-5-1) will undoubtedly miss McDavid, the league’s consensus-best player. Despite a slow start by his standards with 10 points in as many games, McDavid is tied with Leon Draisaitl for the team scoring lead.
McDavid is irreplaceable, something that was evident when the Oilers folded without him in Columbus. He’s their leader and top center. Though the Oilers’ power play has struggled with just two first-unit goals, it has been the best unit in the league for the past six seasons and it runs through him.
The Oilers recalled center Noah Philp and winger Drake Caggiula from AHL Bakersfield on Tuesday to backfill McDavid’s spot.
Philp, 26, could make his NHL debut as early as Thursday in Nashville. Never drafted, Philp spent three years in the Canadian university system with the Alberta Golden Bears after his Western Hockey League career ended. He signed with the Oilers in April 2022. Philp was a standout in training camp as he competed for the fourth-center slot.
With the Oilers in a bit of a cap crunch, the team decided it would behoove Philp to get more playing time in the minors in part because he sat out last season for personal reasons. Philp also missed the 2020-21 campaign because there was no Canadian university hockey due to COVID-19 protocols.
Caggiula, 30, is about to begin his second stint with the Oilers. Signed out of the University of North Dakota in May 2016, Caggiula spent parts of three seasons in Edmonton before being dealt to Chicago as part of the ill-fated Brandon Manning trade in December 2018.
The Oilers are counting on Philp to bring strong positional play and faceoff acumen from the right side, whereas Caggiula’s speed could benefit the team. Both players will predominately play in the bottom six, which needs a boost. The Oilers have dipped into their long-term injured reserve pool — something they didn’t want to do because they wanted to accrue as much cap space as possible ahead of the trade deadline. However, adding a 13th healthy forward creates more competition for roles and playing time.
Promoting Philp and Caggiula from the minors gives coach Kris Knoblauch some flexibility when constructing his lineup. He can run out Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Adam Henrique and Philp as centers and either move current fourth pivot Derek Ryan to the wing or scratch him. Another option is to have Nugent-Hopkins and Henrique in the top six and use Philp and Ryan to center the third and fourth lines.
Knoblauch has plenty of opportunity to try out some combinations without McDavid. The Oilers have six games on their schedule over the next two weeks and 10 games over the next three weeks.
(Photo: Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
