The world’s best hockey player and star captain of the Edmonton Oilers appears to be out for at least one game, but it could be longer.

Connor McDavid entered the left skate boards first Monday night in Columbus after being tripped by Blue Jackets defenseman Ivan Provorov on McDavid’s first shift of the game.

The Oilers star stood up and carefully left the ice on her own.

The National Hockey League team announced in the first period that McDavid miss the rest of the game due to a lower body injury.

Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch told the media after the eventual Defeat 6-1 to the Blue Jackets that McDavid would return to Edmonton for an evaluation. The Oilers are scheduled to play the third of a four-game road trip Thursday in Nashville against the Predators.

McDavid flew with the team after the game against Nashville on Monday night before taking a charter in Edmonton.

TSN NHL reporter Chris Johnston said Tuesday morning that news of McDavid’s injury likely wouldn’t be known until Wednesday.

“I would expect extreme caution to be taken in his recovery,” Johnston told host Gino Reda. a segment of insider trading on TSN’s That’s Hockey.

“We know he won’t play on Thursday, certainly when Edmonton is in Nashville, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see the layoff longer than that, even if the injury itself isn’t that serious, just because they are I’m going to want to err on the side of caution.”

Edmonton-based TSN reporter Ryan Rishaug, while hosting a post-match episode of the Podcast I Got You Back Monday night with former NHL players Jason Strudwick and Rob Brown, said that while early rumors said McDavid’s injury “wasn’t too serious,” the fact that No. 97 is immediately returning to Edmonton is remarkable .

Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid during an NHL game against the Nashville Predators on October 17, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (George Walker IV/Associated Press)“I don’t have any more details, but I think we know that when we hear about an injury and we hear it’s serious, it means a certain thing,” Rishaug said.

“When you hear it’s not too serious, it’s not that serious. That said, he’s on his way back, he probably missed at least one game, so we’re not necessarily going to play doctor here.”

Strudwick said that while McDavid’s spill into the boards “wasn’t a violent collision,” they “scare him sometimes.”

“I feel like maybe he changed something,” Strudwick said. “Did he maybe sprain something, a joint in his leg?”

Brown also said he was wary of looking at the injury as something simple or short-lived.

“When they announced quickly that he wasn’t coming back, I was like, ‘OK, it’s strange that they’re making this decision,’ and then after the game, when Knoblauch said he was going back to Edmonton for an evaluation, The concern has become a little greater,” Brown said.

“I don’t think (the injury will be) anything long-term, but it’s concerning enough that they’re talking about missing games. When this injury just happened, it didn’t look like much, and there is the evaluation that happened (at the match.) There are coaches and doctors around, and yet they are already talking about missed matches.

From left, Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl celebrates with wingers Vasily Podkolzin and Connor Brown after scoring the game-winning goal in overtime against the host Detroit Red Wings on October 27, 2024. The Oilers have won 3 -2. (Duane Burleson/Associated Press)

Mix of programming

With McDavid out of action, Strudwick and Brown agreed that giving a line of Leon Draisaitl at center with Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson in top minutes would make the most sense. The trio has been used on and off as a forward line since preseason.

They said that while all players will need to be at their best while McDavid is out of the lineup, Brown said Draisaitl in particular will need to step up while most of the Oilers forwards struggle to score.

Draisaitl, 29, with six goals and four assists, is the Oilers’ co-leader in team scoring with 10 points with McDavid (three goals, seven assists).

“When you look at the rest of the roster right now, the guys that are in your top six, there are three guys (Arvidsson, Zach Hyman and Vasily Podkolzin) who haven’t scored a goal this season,” he said. Brown said.

“They only have one (striker) besides Leon who will play on Thursday… (who) has two goals this year, and that’s Skinner. No other striker has two goals, so (Draisaitl) must be at his best because there are currently many players who have not managed 10 games in the season.

A second line of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Adam Henrique and Zach Hyman could make up the second forward unit, they said.

Johnston suggested Nugent-Hopkins could “get some more run at center” while McDavid is out.

Edmonton Oilers forward Jeff Skinner celebrates his goal with teammates during an NHL game against the Nashville Predators on October 17, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (George Walker IV/Associated Press)

Give Skinner a key role in the power play

They also agreed that Skinner should take over McDavid’s puck-carrying role during the power play.

“I know they used Arvidsson (on the second unit), but for me, Arvidsson had a very good game offensively, but this is the only game where he scored points all season,” said Brown. “There have been games where Skinner has been the best player for the Oilers.”

Strudwick said he wanted Skinner shot.

“I’d tell him, ‘Shoot the puck,’” he said. “Shoot it because him and Hyman are kind of the same guy. They go in front of the net more. That’s why I would like them.”

Expect a call-up from Bakersfield

Johnston said the Oilers would likely call up a forward from their American Hockey League affiliate in Bakersfield, Calif., before Thursday’s game, while Edmonton has just 12 healthy forwards.

Noah Philp or Matt Savoie could be the ones to land in Nashville.