Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid will be out for two to three weeks after sustaining a lower-body injury in a 6-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday night, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman confirmed.

“Good news as, thankfully, the worst-case scenario is averted with Connor McDavid,” the hockey insider reported on Wednesday. “Looking like at least a couple of weeks, but exact timeline TBD.”

The team also confirmed that the star center sustained an ankle injury and “is expected to return to action” in two to three weeks. That is promising news for the Oilers, who are struggling to start the 2024-25 season and can't afford to lose their best player for a prolonged period. The worst-case scenario likely would have been a left foot or lower-leg fracture.

Edmonton hasn't yet placed McDavid on injured reserve, although that move is probably coming next after he was virtually ruled out for the next five days at least. The Oilers called up two players to fill a couple of open roster spots; Drake Caggiula and Noah Philp both joined the club from the American Hockey League's Bakersfield Condors.

“It's your captain, your best player. It should be an opportunity for guys to step up and say, ‘Oh, I've got this,'” head coach Kris Knoblauch said, per NHL.com. “It's more ice time, more opportunities.”

Oilers can't afford to lose Connor McDavid long-term

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Despite the encouraging timeline, it's still a brutal blow for an Oilers team that is struggling enough with No. 97 in the lineup. Edmonton is off to another tough start in 2024-25, currently sitting 4-5-1 and second last place in the Pacific Division.

After being shellacked 6-1 by the Blue Jackets on Monday night, they're back to below .500, with a -13 goal differential that is third-worst in the NHL. McDavid has also been off to a bit of a slow start — relative to his standards — with three points and 10 points in 10 games.

If the timeline for the captain holds up, the earliest McDavid could return to the Oilers lineup would be November 14 against the Nashville Predators. Edmonton will play six games between now and then, including a couple of tough matchups against the New Jersey Devils, Vegas Golden Knights and Vancouver Canucks.

In McDavid's absence, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is expected to move from the wing to center the top line along with a couple of struggling veterans in Jeff Skinner and Zach Hyman, while Leon Draisaitl will play with Viktor Arvidsson and Vasily Podkolzin to start.

“He's our leader and also the best player in the game. So, of course you're going to feel it,” Nugent-Hopkins said after Monday's loss, per NHL.com. “We've got to do a better job of stepping up when a guy like that goes down.”

It'll be interesting to see how the Oilers fare without their best player, especially considering the sluggish start to the campaign. Edmonton will begin to adjust to life without McDavid against the Predators in Nashville on Thursday night.