McDavid could now miss season opener

Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid has been quiet on his recovery as he works his way back from a knee injury suffered late last season.

However, his agent Jeff Jackson has been more generous with details on his client’s recovery and revealed that the Oilers’ captain may not be ready for the team’s season opener on Oct. 2 against the Vancouver Canucks. 

“He tore his PCL,” agent Jeff Jackson told Sportsnet.ca on Tuesday.

“For a guy like him, who relies so much on his skating his edgework, cutting back … You don’t want to have anything go wrong when you’re rehabbing. So it’s been very meticulous, very carefully orchestrated, the progression. But he’s doing really well.

“On Sept. 3, you can’t say whether he’s ready or not to start the season. He has another month before the season starts, and he’s in very good shape. No one is saying (he will be delayed) until November or December. He’s done extremely well so far, and everyone is happy with his progression.”

While Oilers general manager Ken Holland expects McDavid to be on ice early at the team’s camp, it sure seems like his agent does not have the sense optimism. However, Jackson did say that McDavid did not suffer any setbacks. 

McDavid is expected to arrive in Edmonton on Friday. He did not skate at the BioSteel camp, which set off some alarms… 

Let’s see what happens during camp. There is still a month to go before the start of the season.