Oilers' Draisaitl can prove he's MVP with McDavid suspended – Hockey Writer – Edmonton Oilers

The NHL announced on Monday (January 20) that Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid has been suspended for three games for cross-checking Vancouver Canucks' Connor Garland.

RELATED: Connor McDavid suspended 3 games for cross-checking

The incident occurred with five seconds left in the Canucks' 3-2 loss to the Canucks at Rogers Arena on Saturday (Jan. 18). As a result, McDavid will miss tonight's (January 21) Oilers game against the Washington Capitals at Rogers Place, Thursday's (January 23) game against the Canucks, and Saturday's (January 25 Sunday) against the Buffalo Sabers.

While it's never an ideal situation for the Oilers to be without their captain's help, given the current situation, it's really bad timing for the superstar forward.

Edmonton has big game coming up

The red-hot Oilers have been accelerating their rise up the standings and now have the Vegas Golden Knights in first place in the Pacific Division. After spending three months chasing the Golden Knights, the Oilers are finally ready to leapfrog them for the division lead, but that will require a win against Washington, which has the NHL's best record, and Vancouver, which is 5-1-0. Earn points in the competition.

Without McDavid, the rest of the Oilers' roster will have to step up. There are probably only two or three players on the planet who can fill McDavid's skate void, even if it's just for a few days. Luckily for Edmonton, Leon Draisaitl is one of them.

Draisaitl at his best

The 29-year-old Draisaitl may be having the best season of his career, which includes a 2019-20 campaign in which he won the Hart Trophy, Ted Lindsay Award and Art Ross Trophy.

The veteran center leads the league in goals (33) and game-winning goals (9), is tied for second in points (69) and has the best plus-minus in the NHL (plus-28). He averaged over 21 minutes per game and even ranked among the league's faceoff leaders.

While Draisaitl arguably should be the leading candidate to win the Hart Trophy, some don't even consider him the team's MVP. That's what happens when one skates in the huge shadow cast by the greatest player on the planet.

Oil workers have encountered this situation before

The next few days will mark the second time this season that Edmonton will play three games without McDavid. The first such instance occurred in late October and early November, when he missed more than a week with an ankle injury.

Edmonton went 2-1-0 during that stretch. Draisaitl scored three points apiece in wins over the Nashville Predators (5-1, Oct. 31) and Calgary Flames (4-2, Nov. 3) before joining all other Oilers Team skaters were shutout in the 3-0 loss.

Draisaitl has a history of elevating his game in McDavid's absence. Since the start of the 2016-17 season, he has averaged 1.55 points per game when McDavid is off the court and 1.30 points per game when McDavid is on the court. During this period, Edmonton went 7-9-4 without McDavid when Draisaitl was on the court, with Draisaitl scoring in 20 of those games. Scored 11 goals and 20 assists.

McDavid's actions were unwise

McDavid was frustrated Saturday as he went after Garland, who shockingly held the Oilers captain without penalty. While McDavid's emotions were understandable, when Edmonton tied the game in Vancouver with seconds remaining, his actions resulted in the game being whistled, effectively killing the Oilers' equalizer Any chance of score. While McDavid's suspension may have been too long, he let his team down by allowing himself to face such a harsh penalty.

McDavid has been the favorite to win the Hart Trophy for almost all of this season. The next three games will be Draisaitl's time to shine and show who is most responsible for the Oilers' success in 2024-25.