November 26, 2023 by Ryan Lotsberg

The early season struggles of the Edmonton Oilers have been well documented. I can’t lay blame on the reigning Hart and Art Ross trophy winner, but Connor McDavid’s slow start is one of many factors that has contributed to the Oilers’ poor record so far in the 2023-24 season.

McDavid got 153 points last year. He’s won the Art Ross Trophy five times, the Ted Lindsay Award four times, and the Hart Trophy three times. The man is in another stratosphere as a hockey player. 

He recorded eight points in his first five games this season. That’s exceptional for most players, but pretty normal for McDavid. The issues started after he left the October 21, 2023 game against the Winnipeg Jets with an unknown upper body injury. It looked like an oblique or a core injury based on how he held himself when he left that game. He missed two games with that injury.

The Oilers originally announced that McDavid would miss “one or two weeks” with the injury, and he missed exactly one week. He came back in time for the Heritage Classic on October 29, 2023. Only McDavid and the training staff would know if he was truly 100% healthy at that time; but I honestly don’t think he was fully healthy. 

It’s the only way to explain what happened in the following weeks. McDavid went eight games without scoring a goal going back to the October 19, 2023 game in Philadelphia. That NEVER happens to him! He only managed five points in his first nine games after returning from his injury. That’s good for most players, but this is McDavid we’re talking about! That’s far from his usual form.

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McDavid just didn’t look like himself. He looked slower than usual. He couldn’t wind it up through the neutral zone as we’ve become so accustomed to seeing. His hands let him down on far too many occasions. McDavid turned the puck over on stick handling miscues in the offensive zone at a far higher rate than we’ve ever seen from him. He wasn’t doing laps with the puck in the offensive zone, waiting for an opening like a cougar waiting to pounce on its prey. 

That has started to change though. McDavid is looking like his old self again. It started in Florida last Monday. He scored on a one-timer from Leon Draisaitl’s favourite spot, and he earned a penalty shot after driving wide on Gustav Forsling. He buried the penalty shot for his second goal of the game.

The Oilers had a tough night in Carolina on Wednesday, but McDavid managed to get an assist. He got the puck behind the net and carried it out to the right faceoff dot. He spun off of Brent Burns and found Zach Hyman in the slot, and Hyman cashed in on the chance.

The dam burst in Washington on Black Friday. McDavid got four assists including three on the powerplay en route to a 5-0 win over the Washington Capitals. He didn’t do anything special, but he made nice passes and his teammates finally started finishing for him.

The floodgates stayed open during the Anaheim Ducks’ visit to Rogers Place on Sunday evening. McDavid had a five point night in an 8-2 victory. He kept the puck on a three-on-one rush and sniped it off the far post on Lukas Dostal. He accepted a pass in the right circle while looping that way from the corner. Then he split the defence to work his way into the slot, and he found Hyman who had a wide open net for the Oilers’ fourth goal. Finally, McDavid found Draisaitl in his spot on a signature powerplay seam pass for the Oilers’ seventh goal. That was a sight for sore eyes.

Very little went right for the Oilers in the team’s first twenty games. The goaltending was problematic to say the least, the defencemen were making blunders all over the ice, and the forwards had seemingly lost their scoring touch. McDavid is included in the group of players that didn’t play up to their usual standard in the early part of the season.

It’s no secret that the Oilers rely on McDavid and Draisaitl to fill the net. The Oilers win games on their strength and their spectacular powerplay. If McDavid or Draisaitl aren’t firing on all cylinders, the Oilers have a tough time winning games. They win lots when McDavid and Draisaitl produce up to their usual levels.

The Oilers dug themselves a deep hole with their slow start. Making the playoffs is still possible, but they have a lot of work to do to climb their way back into the race. Now that McDavid is playing like his usual self again, the Oilers’ chances have improved greatly.