There is never a good time to lose a player like Connor McDavid to injury.
But there certainly are the worst possible times.
And while it might not be Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final — ouch, too soon? — having him absent from the lineup while the Edmonton Oilers are struggling once again to start a season with any sort of traction in the standings is far from ideal.
The club announced Wednesday their captain will be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury after he left 37 seconds into Monday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, having been tripped up before falling skates first into the boards.
Considering the already struggling team went on to lose 6-1 without him, any time lost is too much time.
Then again, it could always be worse, right?
“Absolutely. You never know what the outcome was going to be and how long,” said head coach Kris Knoblauch. “Obviously, you don’t want to miss him for any time, but you think about what it could have been …
“Yeah, I guess we’re lucky it’s as short as it is.”
The loss of McDavid means the Oilers are out a point-per-game player. The fact he’s averaged a point and a half over his career shows just how desperate the times have been in Edmonton early on in the year. And that was before he got injured.
“Absolutely, there’s challenges with not having the best player, point producer and somebody who gets one-and-a-half, two points a game,” Knoblauch said. “That will make an impact on our team.
“I think this is a great opportunity for everyone to step up and play.”
There are two ways this can go, of course. Either the remaining Oilers rally around each other and find a way to turn things around themselves, or McDavid will have even more catching up to do once he returns sometime in November.
“As a player, it’s often hard to get into a rhythm, a flow for those players. Now that you’re missing someone who’s playing about 22 minutes a night, there’s a lot more rhythm, flow for those third-, fourth-line guys,” Knoblauch said. “And an ability for them to feel good about themselves and feel part of the game.”
Philp, Caggiula slot into lineup
A couple of those fourth-liners will be players called up in McDavid’s stead from the American Hockey League farm team in Bakersfield, Calif.
Noah Philp will centre the line and journeyman Drake Caggiula will play left wing, as Derek Ryan appears to be a healthy scratch after going pointless over the first 10 games of the season.
Philp, a 26-year-old native of Canmore, spent last season away from hockey due to personal reasons, before returning to the Oilers organization where he was assigned back to the Bakersfield Condors at the end of training camp.
“It’s a very great story for what he’s gone through. Coming back and through training camp, he had an excellent camp,” Knoblauch said. “Really impressed, right through all the practices and the games that he played.
“For him to get the call-up and the opportunity to play, it feels good for not only the coaching staff, the players, anybody who’s involved in following him. So, well deserved for him.”
And now, the University of Alberta Golden Bears product is set to make his NHL debut Thursday against the Nashville Predators (6 p.m., Sportsnet West).
“I’m just thrilled,” Philp said. “I’m sure lots of guys have said this before on their first chance, but you think about this your whole life.
“And I’m just more than excited.”
He has 40 points (21 goals, 19 assists) in 79 games in Bakersfield, in a bit of a unique journey to the pros.
“An unorthodox one, I would say,” Philp said. “But one that I felt like I wouldn’t change. I’m here now and I’m pretty excited for this opportunity.
“The guys are so welcoming and they’re all friendly and excited for me too. So, it’s been fun and I’m a broken record, but I’m thrilled to be here.”
Caggiula, meanwhile, previously played 146 games with the Oilers, then was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks just after Christmas in 2018, for defenceman Brandon Manning.
Caggiula bounced around from the Hawks to Arizona to Buffalo to Pittsburgh before returning to the Oilers organization.
After signing a two-year free-agent deal in 2023, he broke his hand in Bakersfield last season but still managed 37 points in 43 games.
With the five points this month in the AHL, he has 42 points in 48 games on Edmonton’s farm team.
E-mail: [email protected]
On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge
Bookmark our website and support our journalism:Don’t miss the news you need to know — add EdmontonJournal.com and EdmontonSun.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here.
You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun.