THE The Edmonton Oilers have won back-to-back games entering their Monday night matchup with the Columbus Blue Jackets. However, they failed to achieve three consecutive victories. The Blue Jackets dominated Edmonton on their way to a 6-1 victory. During the game, the Oilers lost Connor McDavid to injury after tripping while entering the offensive zone.

It’s unclear what McDavid’s specific injury status is at this time. But Edmonton fans I received an update regarding their superstar captain after Monday’s defeat. McDavid returned to Edmonton Monday evening to be re-evaluated with a lower body injury, according to head coach Kris Knoblauch.

“He’s your captain, your best player,” the Oilers head coach said in a clip posted to social media. “A lot of times it should be an opportunity for guys to step up. It’s more ice time, more opportunities. It’s difficult to play without your best player. But it’s something we’ll have to (do), hopefully in the short term.

Connor McDavid is a major loss for the Oilers

Connor McDavid is, without hyperbole, the best player in the world when he is playing to the best of his abilities. McDavid won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs despite the Oilers’ failure to win the Stanley Cup. Additionally, the Edmonton captain has eight points per 1,000 in his career while having played less than 700 games.

As Knoblauch mentioned, it will be difficult for Edmonton to play without McDavid if he is out long-term. At this time, it is unclear how much time he will miss. However, it seems likely that McDavid will not play on Halloween against the Nashville Predators in Nashville.

It is unclear how the Oilers will replace McDavid. Knoblauch said he discussed the matter with general manager Stan Bowman while Bowman attended Monday night’s game in Columbus. A decision will be made in due course on promoting a Bakersfield AHL player.

One likely change will be the promotion of Leon Draisaitl to the front line. Draisaitl, potentially the second-best player in the world, should more than hold his own on the top line alongside Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman. However, his move to the first line certainly creates problems in how the other lines are constructed.

For now, the Oilers and fans are in wait-and-see mode. Edmonton has a few days to figure out how to immediately replace their captain in the lineup. Hopefully McDavid avoids serious injury and can return without complications sooner rather than later.