Seravalli: Connor McDavid is not injured
1 year ago
Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid has folks speculating about the state of his health after TSN reporter, Ryan Rishaug, tweeted a video that showed McDavid favouring his leg at Oilers practice. Is the captain hurt? We asked Frank Seravalli that exact question on today’s episode of Oilersnation Everyday.
To this point in the Stanley Cup playoffs, Connor McDavid has played in all five games in the Oilers’ first round series versus the Los Angeles Kings. He is averaging 24:44 a night and has scored two goals and eight points, which is good for third most on the Oilers. In comparison to what fans and media have come to expect from him, the “lack of production” has some people feeling like something is wrong.
Frank Seravalli from Daily Faceoff addressed the rumours surrounding McDavid’s health on Oilersnation Everyday with Tyler Yaremchuk.
“He (Connor McDavid) is not hurt. At least the last time I checked in, a couple of days, to ask that exact same question, “Is there something going on that I am missing” and the answer was no. I do not even have any evidence to point to anything in his game because he is still flying. I do not think anything is wrong with his hand, and obviously not his feet. I think their (LA Kings) game plan is to give the Oilers the perimeter. He (McDavid) can circle the perimeter as much as he wants because they believe he is much less of a threat, and I would say that is a very accurate statement. In many ways, I think what the Kings have done is similar to what the Colorado Avalanche did (in the Western Conference Finals last season).
Another note on this is the fact he is practicing with the team and not sitting out. If McDavid was truly hurt, there is almost a zero percent chance Jay Woodcroft and the Oilers would risk him getting worse in practice. Evander Kane is carrying a knock or two right now, and, as a result, he is not currently practicing with his teammates. Take it back to last season, too, when Darnell Nurse and Leon Draisaitl only saw the ice during the games.
At some point, credit needs to be given to the Kings and the defensive display they have put up against McDavid. The Oilers captain has scored only one point at five-on-five, which came in Game 5 with his assist on Leon Draisaitl. The reality is that Los Angeles did a good job of keeping McDavid at bay in the regular season, too, allowing him to score only three points. The Kings have clearly learned from their errors from last season’s playoff tilt when they allowed McDavid to control the series with four goals and 15 points in their seven game set.
You can only hope to contain McDavid, not shut him down. The Kings have done that through their performance and not from an injury that has occurred.
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