Connor McDavid out 'at least a couple of weeks' with lower-body injury

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that Oilers superstar Connor McDavid will miss “at least a couple of weeks” with the lower-body injury he suffered Monday against the Blue Jackets. It’s not expected to be an overly long-term absence, though, implying they’ve avoided the worst-case scenario of a left foot or lower-leg fracture.

The Oilers haven’t yet placed McDavid on injured reserve, although with him safely ruled out for the next five days, nothing is stopping them from doing so. They had two open roster spots at the time of his injury, which they filled Tuesday with the recalls of forwards Drake Caggiula and Noah Philp from AHL Bakersfield. They’re now at a full roster with ample cap flexibility, thanks to Evander Kane’s LTIR placement. Still, they could move McDavid to IR to open another roster spot if necessary.

Still, any McDavid absence isn’t welcome news for Edmonton. They’re on their seemingly yearly tradition of underwhelming starts before going on a late-November or December tear. After being trounced 6-1 by Columbus earlier this week, they’re back below .500 with a 4-5-1 record, and their -13 goal differential is third-worst in the league, ahead of only the Penguins and Sharks. McDavid was caught in the mire, too, off to a slow start by his standards, with three goals and 10 points in 10 games. He was still his usual dominant self in possession play, though, with the Oilers controlling 62.8% of shot attempts with McDavid on the ice at even strength.

A two-week timeline from Wednesday, likely the best-case scenario outlined by Friedman, puts his earliest potential return on Nov. 14 against the Predators. The Oilers have six games between now and then. In the meantime, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is projected to shift from wing to center on the first line with Zach Hyman, while Jeff Skinner will move up from a middle-six role to ride shotgun with that pair.