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This isn’t the first time Connor McDavid has been bitten by the injury bug.
Since missing significant time in his rookie NHL season, the Edmonton Oilers superstar has been a model of resiliency, never missing more than seven games in a single season.
Here is a year-by-year list of the incidents that kept him off the ice.
2015-16: After scoring 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in his first 13 games in the NHL, McDavid fractured his left clavicle in a collision along the boards with Philadelphia Flyers Brandon Manning and Michael Del Zotto on Nov. 3. McDavid ended up missing the longest stretch of his career, 37 games, before returning to finish the season with 48 points (16 goals, 32 assists) to end up fourth in rookie scoring and third in Calder Memorial trophy voting, despite playing just 45 games.
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2016-17: Played all 82 games.
2017-18: Played all 82 games.
2018-19: McDavid’s biggest injury of his career also came at about the best possible time. In the final game of the season and the Oilers already eliminated from playoffs, McDavid ran into the net against the Calgary Flames on April 6. He was clocked at moving more than 40 km/h when his left knee made contact with the post, resulting in completely tearing his posterior cruciate ligament and popliteus muscle, along with tears in the medial and lateral meniscus, and a fracture to the tibial plateau. McDavid chose rehabilitation over surgery and returned in time for the next season.
2019-20: McDavid injured his knee in a collision with Dante Fabbro during a game against the Nashville Predators on Feb. 9. While the knee ended up escaping unscathed, imaging scans showed a quadriceps injury that forced him to miss six games in an NHL season interrupted by COVID-19. He finished with 97 points (34 goals, 63 assists) in 64 games before the NHL suspended the season.
2020-21: Played all 56 games.
2021-22: Played all but two games, but neither was missed due to injury. One was because of COVID-19 protocols, and in the other he opted to rest in the regular-season finale.
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2022-23: Played all 82 games.
2023-24: McDavid missed two games in late October (upper body) and four more in April (lower body) due to two separate minor injuries, but returned in time for a lengthy playoff run to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.
2024-25: McDavid tripped over the stick of Zach Werenski 37 seconds into a game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Oct. 28, sliding into the boards skates first. He left the game with what was called a lower-body injury and flew home to Edmonton for assessment. We are waiting on an official update from the club.
E-mail: [email protected]
On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge
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