You know it was a bad night, when being routed 6-1 on the road by the Columbus Blue Jackets is not the worst thing that happened to the Oilers on Monday. No, instead it was the terrible news of Connor McDavid suffering an injury and being forced to return to Edmonton for further evaluation.
There's been plenty of speculation about how long McDavid will be out for, with the genuine concern that he could be absent long-term with an ankle injury. Pending clarification, he all but certainly won't be available for the remainder of the Oilers' current road trip, which has two games remaining in Nashville and Calgary.
With a 4-5-1 record through their first 10 games of the 2024-25 campaign, it's not quite as bad as last season's horrific start. At the same time however this isn't much consolation, especially if McDavid does end up being out for quite a while.
Plenty of opportunities all around
Along these lines, Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch is trying his best -- while not seeing what's happened as a good thing -- to remain positive. As per Robert Tychkowski of the Edmonton Journal, Knoblauch said: "It should be an opportunity for guys to step up and say ‘I got this.’ It’s more ice time, more opportunity."
The challenge with this, is that some of the players expected to step up, have yet to do so even with McDavid on the ice. We're talking about the likes of Zach Hyman and Viktor Arvidsson, each of who has yet to score, along with someone such as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who only has one goal in 10 games.
Of course opportunities extends to players being called up, to help the team on Thursday in the next game versus the Predators. As Knoblauch said: "Obviously our team is going to look different. Whether it’s one or two moves, I’m not sure. We’ve discussed it and we’ll make that decision tonight or tomorrow to see who is coming up."
(Update - As per Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman on social media, the Oilers are bringing up forwards Drake Caggiula and Noah Philp from the Bakersfield Condors.)
Oilers scanning the trade market
It won't stop there either though for the Oilers, at least if the latest speculation is anything to go by. Giving due credit to Preston Hodgkinson of the Daily Hive, general manager Stan Bowman is also looking outside the organisation for help.
TSN's NHL insider Darren Dreger made an appearance on The Nielson Show Tuesday morning, and explained how Bowman is busy working the phones after the Oilers' tough start to this this season. Dreger said: "The word on the street is that he is working more aggressively trying to find some help. I don’t think there is anything magical coming from the general manager’s office, but I do think the ingredients are there for this team to be much better than what we’ve seen here."
Now as per Dreger's final comment, he's also making reference to the talent already on the Oilers roster being capable of more than they've shown so far. And in fairness that's possible even without McDavid in the lineup, albeit not something the team wants to deal with for too long.
The thing is though, no matter how much work Bowman is currently putting in to try and find suitable help via the trade market, it's extremely unlikely he'll find anything of significance at this stage. The 2024–25 NHL trade deadline is not until Mar. 7, meaning with still more than four months to go, it's still arguably too early for anyone to give up on their season and the rosters they currently possess.
Pending this, what will be interesting is what area or areas of the team Bowman is focusing on, to bring in reinforcements. The blue line and the goalie position are equally in need of upgrading, but the combination of an underperforming forward unit and a possible long-term absence for McDavid could change his priorities.
Overall, there's still plenty of time for the current roster in Edmonton to step up and start playing closer to their collective talent level. However, there's just not a good vibe surrounding the team right now, with the potential to get better or even worse, pending the update on McDavid's injury.