Connor McDavid is visibly struggling, yet he is still on the penalty kill. Why keep him there if his overall minutes are down?
The Edmonton Oilers are down 3-1 in their series with the Anaheim Ducks. Looking to get back into it on Tuesday night, this must-win situation becomes more difficult knowing that Connor McDavid is not 100 percent.
Clearly laboring with something, most believe his ankle is the issue after getting caught up with Mattias Ekholm earlier in the series. McDavid doesn't look as sharp, he's not as fast, and he's not cutting on his skates as he typically would.
He's anything but the McDavid Edmonton fans have come to know.
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Yet, the Oilers have kept him out on the penalty kill and analysts are trying to figure out why.
Overall, his minutes are down. In Game 4, McDavid played just 19:32. That's down a great deal from Game 3, where he played 23:50, and Game 2 where he played 24:07. Head coach Kris Knoblauch is obviously trying to manage his minutes, and having him out on the ice when he's arguably least effective and at the greatest risk of further suffering an injury makes little sense.
At least, it makes little sense on the surface.
One theory seems to be that McDavid is making it known he needs to be out there.
There's a belief that in most other situations, McDavid wouldn't be out there. Having said that, some wonder if he's let head coach Kris Knoblauch know that sitting two minutes (or more, depending on the situation) is the worst thing for his ailment -- that McDavid wants to keep it warm and avoid his ankle or feet seizing up.
If true, things are worse than originally believed.
McDavid is clearly not 100 percent Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn ImagesMcDavid will battle through whatever this is. However, if theory is true that he can't sit for more than a couple of minutes without the issue worsening, one has to wonder how bad things are getting between games.
This is all speculation, of course. McDavid will never cop to how bad the issue is. The Oilers won't either. Both sides will simply suggest everyone is dealing with something.
It's easy to say that if McDavid were healthy, this could be a different series. That fact is, he's not. As such, the Oilers have to find a way with him being involved a lot less in the ultimate outcome.
That means the depth on the roster needs to step and and the defense needs to shut the Ducks down. Without McDavid's trademark speed and dynamic scoring ability, this series has to become about winning games 2-1.
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