Oilers have predictable record without McDavid since 2021
The Edmonton Oilers are set to play their first game of the season without captain Connor McDavid in the lineup tonight ā and history hasn’t been kind to the team in this situation.
It should be obvious that the Oilers’ record without their star player has not been great over the past few seasons, but this is a team that should at least be capable without him. They still boast plenty of talented offensive players, headlined by Leon Draisaitl, and have been among the best teams in the entire league for the past couple of seasons.
A few call-ups have been made to help weather the loss, but neither Noah Philp nor Drake Caggiula will come close to filling the void. This could be the longest that McDavid has been out of the Oilers lineup since he broke his collar bone during his rookie season in 2015-16.
Yet, this team has floundered without its leader in the lineup. It hasn’t happened often, but in the eight games that McDavid has missed since 2021, the Oilers have won just two of them, giving them a dismal record of 2-5-1.
The #Oilers will play just their ninth game without Connor McDavid in the lineup tonight since 2021…
..the team's record in the eight previous is 2-5-1. Will need some players to step up in his absence.
— Preston Hodgkinson (@NHLHodgkinson) October 31, 2024
Six of those games came last year, with a two-game absence near the beginning of the season and a longer one at the end. It was during those games that the team just couldn’t find that extra gear to cope without him.
Edmonton played to a horrible 1-4-1 record without their captain last season. Their only win was a 5-1 drubbing of the Vegas Golden Knights. Considering last year’s team made it to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, it’s surprising how lost they were without McDavid during the regular season.
The worst of those four losses were the two at the beginning of last season. Funnily enough, it came close to the same time that McDavid went down this year as well. During that short stretch, the team was shelled 7-4 by the Minnesota Wild and 3-0 by the New York Rangers in consecutive games.
It doesn’t appear he will miss games against those two teams this time around, but with the New Jersey Devils, Golden Knights, and Vancouver Canucks coming up next week, the path won’t be much easier for the Oilers as they navigate life without McDavid.