Edmonton Oilers fans can sigh a sigh of relief as rookie Connor McDavid will return to action this Tuesday against the Columbus Blue Jackets, reports Ryan Rishaug of TSN.
Can confirm McDavid will play Tuesday night.
— Ryan Rishaug (@TSNRyanRishaug) February 1, 2016
The former first overall pick in the 2015 draft was off to an impressive start in his debut campaign, posting 12 points in 13 games before being forced out of action after breaking his clavicle against the Philadelphia Flyers, undergoing surgery in November.
McDavid was the NHL rookie of the month in October and was showing what he could become before getting hurt.
McDavid told Pierre LeBrun of ESPN.com that missing action has been difficult.
“It’s been really hard,” he said. “But at same time you understand it’s a process. It’s not the end of the world. There’s hopefully a number of years left to play. You just got to look at it that way. It’s not the rookie year you dreamed of, but it is what it is.”
The Oilers will be happy to get McDavid back. The team was 5-8-0 before he went down, and have stayed around the same pace with a 19-26-5 record, currently last in the Western Conference.
Despite being far out of the playoff race, McDavid believes the Oilers still got a chance.
“Yes, we’re in last place, but you look at our division, the Pacific, you’re never really out of it right now,” he said. “Is it an ideal position? No. Is it the end of the world? No. I don’t think anyone in our room and our organization feels that it’s out of the question. We’ll see what happens after the break.”
Whether that’s true or not, the Oilers will be a much better team with McDavid in their lineup. So fans should be very happy to see the phenom return.
