Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid has joined the team in Vegas after all.
It comes days after head coach Kris Knoblauch said McDavid, defenceman Mattias Ekholm, and netminder Stuart Skinner wouldn’t be with the team at the start of their four-game road trip. While it appears that neither Ekholm nor Skinner are with the team, McDavid skated with the team on the “fifth line.”
He did so with wingers Trent Frederic and Evander Kane, who continue to work their way back from various injuries. Frederic is still healing from a lower-body injury he was banged up in the week before the trade deadline when the Oilers acquired him from the Boston Bruins, while Kane is still working his way back from abdominal surgery he underwent last September, and a knee surgery in January.
The Oilers top line of Leon Draisiatl, Vasily Podkolzin and Viktor Arvidsson will remain, but the rest of the forward lines will be shaken up. The second line will see Ryan Nugent-Hopkins centre Zach Hyman and Kasperi Kapanen, while Mattias Janmark will centre Jeff Skinner and Connor Brown on the third line. Edmonton’s fourth line will see Adam Henrique centring Max Jones and Corey Perry.
The blue line will remain the same, with Jake Walman and Evan Bouchard on the top pairing, Darnell Nurse and Troy Stecher on the second, and Brett Kulak and Ty Emberson on the third pair.
It’s a great sign for the team that Frederic and Kane both were able to skate on Tuesday morning. Frederic is likely close to days away, though Kane isn’t expected to return until the playoffs at some point.
Edmonton takes on the Vegas Golden Knights Tuesday night, before visiting the San Jose Sharks Thursday, Los Angeles Kings Saturday and the Anaheim Ducks next Monday.
