Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid will not play Friday, remains questionable for Saturday with lower-body injury

Connor McDavid will not play on Friday against the Arizona Coyotes, still dealing with a nagging lower-body injury sustained in a 4-2 win at the Calgary Flames on Saturday. He did not play in a 5-1 win against the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday and missed practice on Thursday.

McDavid says he may be ready for Saturday’s matchup with the Vancouver Canucks.

“I won’t go tonight,” he said. “We will see about tomorrow. We are going day by day.”

According to Jason Gregor of the Nation Network, McDavid also expressed that he may have aggravated the injury against Calgary.

“I won’t go tonight. We will see about tomorrow. We are going day-by-day,” McDavid.

He also added this was a combination of a nagging injury and aggravating it in Calgary. He is confident it won’t linger and he will not rush back. Also added he hates sitting out and wants to…

— Jason Gregor (@JasonGregor) April 12, 2024

“He’s still day to day,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said Thursday. “If it was a playoff game, he would have played last night [against Vegas], but he’s still questionable for tomorrow.”

McDavid currently sits third in the race for the Art Ross Trophy, given to the player with the most points in the regular season. The Oilers’ captain has 130 points (31 goals, 99 assists) in 74 games and trails only Nikita Kucherov (141 points) and Nathan MacKinnon (137 points).

McDavid has won the award five times, including the past three seasons (105, 123 and 153 points, respectively). He is currently a plus-34 this season, which would be a career high.

Wednesday was the third game McDavid has missed this season due to injury. He also sat out two games leading up to the 2023 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic in October.

Edmonton has clinched a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, although their seeding could still change. The Oilers sit second in the Pacific Division, four points behind Vancouver and six points ahead of the Los Angeles Kings. Barring a flip at the top, Edmonton would face Los Angeles in the opening round.

The Oilers fell in six games to the Golden Knights in the second round in 2023.