Edmonton Oilers assign Evan Bouchard, Colby Cave to AHL; opens door to activate Connor McDavid off IR

The @Edmonton Oilers have assigned @Colby Cave and @Evan Bouchard to the Bakersfield Condors opening the door to activate @Connor McDavid from the injured reserve.

Cave, 25, was recalled by the Oilers on Feb. 9 and appeared in six games on his most recent recall. Bouchard, meanwhile, was recalled Wednesday from the Condors but didn’t appear in any games.

As Gregor noted above, the move also makes way for the return of McDavid from his quad injury suffered Feb. 8 against the @Nashville Predators. McDavid was announced a few days later to be out of the line for two-to-three weeks, and his impending return Sunday against the LA Kings would put him a day over two weeks.

McDavid has skated ahead of Oilers practice the last few days after returning from rehabbing his quad back in Toronto, and has looked no worse for wear.

Edmonton has done a solid job of keeping their heads above water with McDavid out of the lineup securing wins against the @Chicago Blackhawks, @Flordia Panthers, and @Carolina Hurricanes. The club’s gone 3-2-1 in that time, suffering regulation losses to the @Tampa Bay Lightning and @Minnesota Wild, while falling to the @Boston Bruins in OT.

While the move does open the door for McDavid’s return, it also leaves the Oilers without a healthy extra skater. Bouchard had been in Edmonton for the last few days to act as the club’s only healthy extra body. So either the Oilers are close to acquiring a player days ahead of Monday’s trade deadline, or someone else is close to being healthy.

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