Oilers get McDavid back for game against Ducks

Team Canada and Connor McDavid may have lost the gold medal in men's hockey, but the Oilers captain was named MVP and top forward at Milano Cortina 2026.

Connor McDavid is suiting up Wednesday night.

A day after the Edmonton Oilers’ head coach suggested the team’s superstar might take the night off after returning to North America from the Winter Olympics in Italy, McDavid took to the ice in Anaheim, Calif., for the morning skate alongside his usual linemates Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

It’s an indication McDavid will be in the starting lineup for the 8:30 p.m. MT game against the host Ducks.

McDavid is coming off Sunday’s heartbreaking Canadian overtime loss to the U.S. in the men’s gold-medal game.

The Oilers are looking to stop a losing skid Wednesday night in southern California to restart their regular season following the Winter Olympics break.

“It’s going to be a tight race coming down the stretch and there are only a handful of weeks left and we haven’t secured anything, so we’ve got to get going here out of the break,” McDavid told reporters after the skate in Anaheim.

Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said he and his coaching staff would look at trying to keep McDavid’s and Leon Draisaitl’s minutes played down against the Ducks given the team plays the Kings Thursday night in Los Angeles.

The game at the Honda Center is the Oilers’ first of three in four nights. Edmonton will finish their trip on Saturday in San Jose against the Sharks before returning home to face the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday.

Edmonton comes into Anaheim after losing three in a row before the three-week pause. The Oilers (28-22-8) are 8-3-3 against Pacific Division opponents so far this season and beat the Ducks (30-23-3) in their previous meeting.

Projected Oilers lineup

Forward

• Ryan Nugent-Hopkins • Connor McDavid • Zach Hyman
• Matt Savoie • Leon Draisaitl • Jack Roslovic
• Vasily Podkolzin • Adam Henrique • Trent Frederic
• Andrew Mangiapane • Curtis Lazar • Mattias Janmark

Defence

• Mattias Ekholm • Evan Bouchard
• Darnell Nurse • Jake Walman
• Spencer Stastney • Ty Emberson

Goal

• Tristan Jarry • Connor Ingram