Watch Connor McDavid at the optional skate before tonight's game against the Arizona Coyotes.
EDMONTON -- Connor McDavid is back.
The Edmonton Oilers captain was labelled a "game-time decision" by head coach Kris Knoblauch yesterday. The Arizona Coyotes are in town tonight - with the Vancouver Canucks visiting tomorrow night to complete the back-to-back.
Connor McDavid.The Oilers held an optional skate ahead of the game tonight. Calvin Pickard is the expected starter versus the Coyotes. Derek Ryan will very likely draw in for Sam Carrick.
As far as McDavid is concerned, he took to the ice this morning.
Given that this is an optional skate, it doesn't guarantee that the captain will lace up the skates tonight. But it is encouraging to see him out there skating.
Not only is he skating - but he did some stick handling drills. Which included a two-obstacle figure-eight style exercise to test out his edges. The little hops over the obstacles are a nice touch. It also shows that his skating now seems to be unaffected - which lines up with Knoblauch saying yesterday that he would have played last game if it was the playoffs.
Knoblauch this morning said that McDavid "remains questionable" for tonight's game. Which sounds like he will likely sit out tonight's game. Considering that it's the first half of a back-to-back, it's not a terrible idea to give your best player an extra day of rest before the final four-game stretch.
At this point, my sense is that he is being held out to get extra rest. Simply because he looks fantastic judging from the videos above from practice. All will be answered tonight in warmups.
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