Breaking: Oilers announce urgent rehabilitation protocol for McDavid

The Edmonton Oilers wanted to get all the facts straight before making an important decision on their captain and best player Connor McDavid. 

Last Saturday, McDavid suffered a leg injury in the team’s last game of the season against the Calgary Flames. The star player was tripped by Flames defenseman Mark Giordano and crashed knee first in to the Calgary goal post, dislodging the net on impact. 

McDavid did not put any weight on his injured leg as he left the ice and was spotted leaving Calgary’s ScotiaBank Saddledome in a wheelchair.  On Thursday night, an Oilers fan has shared a photo of McDavid wearing an enormous leg brace. 

That same night, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that the Oilers have urged McDavid to get a second and a third opinion from medical experts on his leg injury. 

“The team and [McDavid] are figuring out a recovery plan for him, and we are still waiting to see what it’s going to be, but he is getting more appointments to get it check out and see where they’re going.”

Friedman’s colleague Nick Kypreos also chimed in on the severity of the injury and what the Oilers might be looking for in the quest for more medical opinions on the matter. 

“Perhaps Elliotte they saw something that they first didn’t notice. My understanding is that maybe they’re triple-checking perhaps on the ligaments and whether or not he sustained any injury there as well. I don’t blame the Oilers for doing this. They’ve got a Ferrari here and you just don’t get him to Jiffy Lube and call it a day.”

It seems like the opinions have been reported back to the Oilers and McDavid as the team made this announcement late on Friday night about the status on the star forward. 

"The Oilers medical staff, in collaboration with top orthopedic specialists, have determined a rehabilitation protocol for Connor McDavid, which will begin immediately."

It sounds like the Oilers want to get the rehabilitation going as soon as possible. It could be that McDavid's injury is much more serious than first expected and that the team wants to do everything it can to ensure that their captain is in top shape in time for training camp and the start of the 2019-20 season.