Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid is questionable to play Friday against the Arizona Coyotes.
McDavid was not at practice on Thursday with Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch telling reporters that he could have played if it was a playoff game.
The Oilers kept the 130-point scorer out of the lineup against the Vegas Golden Knights as he was a game-time decision. He did not join his teammates for warmup.
McDavid and the Oilers are in the hunt for the Pacific Division title, sitting five points behind the first-place Vancouver Canucks with two games in hand. Though winning the division is an attainable goal, especially if McDavid suits up down the final stretch, Knoblauch told reporters on Tuesday that the team is more focused on ensuring their players are in top form ahead of Game 1.
"The most important thing is playoffs, that we are ready," he said. "I think we’ve got depth. You’re never going to replace Connor, but we’ve got healthy bodies.
"We want to make sure everyone is healthy as much as possible going into the playoffs."
COMMENTS
When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.