"Nothing More Than That": McDavid Clarifies Questionable Coaching Comments
Connor McDavid cleared the air on coaching remarks, suggesting it wasn't meant to be said as taken by some.
Video Transcript
We've now got breaking news here to announce.
Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl expected to miss the remainder of this regular season after suffering a lower body injury in the first period of their game against Nashville on March 15th.
So Draisaitl, second on the Oilers in scoring, with 35 goals and 62 assists for 97 points in 65 games this season.
So needless to say, not a small loss for the Oilers here.
They're currently third in the Pacific.
They're five, four and one in their last 10, with a four-point lead on the Seattle Kraken for third place in the Pacific division.
So immediate reactions to this news.
Mike, what does this mean for the Oilers playoff chances?
this coupled with the Tristan Jarry news, meaning Tristan Jarry is a sieve and can't stop a puck, and they've had to go to Connor Ingram as their starter, not be- not very good news for the Edmonton Oilers.
I mean, all the teams per- pursuing them have games in hand.
they're, they're terrible defensively.
Their goaltending has been suspect, as I just mentioned.
And now, you know, it's impossible to check Connor McDavid, but, you know, when you have that one-two punch of McDavid and Draisaitl, and Draisaitl can take some of the heat off McDavid and provide a, a weapon on the power play, this really hurts them.
I'm not saying that they're gonna fall off, because McDavid has a nasty habit of defying logic when it comes to the Oilers, but it's not good news and, you know, it's, w- it's gonna be an interesting last four weeks of the regular season without Draisaitl in the lineup.
Yeah, you never bet against McDavid, but, like you said, really, really devastating news for Draisaitl and the Oilers here.
Adam, what do you make of their playoff chances now that Draisaitl's not gonna be in the picture?
I think that everybody in California is very happy at the moment because, you know, if the Oilers slip up, then we could see Anaheim, LA, and San Jose all in the playoffs.
But I mean, like, this is just devastating news for the Oilers.
Like Mike said, you already have the goaltending questions.
You know, they have some depth scoring but, like we've talked about all throughout the year, some of it's really disappeared, and they've really piggybacked off of Draisaitl, McDavid.
But, like, I also look at this as, so let's say that, let's play this out and say that the Edmonton Oilers do make the playoffs, which i- it's still possible, you know.
They're in that spot.
I, I don't know if McDavid is re-- or, Draisaitl is ready for the playoffs.
Like, if you're shutting him down at this point for this long when you're in that, when you have, when you're not, like, know that you might not make the playoffs, like, how long is it gonna be?
Like, is this a thing where if the Oilers start in the first round, he doesn't play in the whole first round?
Is it, well, maybe he comes back in game three situation.
Like, this is massive just for the Oilers, even in the playoffs.
Like, I, you know, I think it's a fair, guess that we might see two different NHL teams in the Stanley Cup final this year.
But I mean, it's gone from bad to worse to whatever this is for the Edmonton Oilers this year.
