McDavid pushing himself to play in preseason for Oilers

Connor McDavid remains unsure if he will play a preseason game for the Edmonton Oilers because of a knee injury sustained in April, but he said he is working hard to make it happen.

"I'm trying to push myself too," McDavid said after practice Monday. "Everyone's played games by now. I'm the only one that hasn't, so I've got to make sure I'm ready to go when the time [to play] comes."
The 22-year-old center tore the PCL in his left knee in the season finale against the Calgary Flames on April 6. After rehabbing the knee and skating on his own during the offseason, McDavid has been a full participant in training camp, though he has yet to play in a preseason game.

"There was lots of uncertainty just with the injury and lots of different stuff going on this summer," McDavid said, "so to feel good on the ice is something I'm real happy about, and the fact that we are even talking about games is something I'm real proud of."
Edmonton has three preseason games remaining -- Tuesday against the Arizona Coyotes, Thursday at the Winnipeg Jets and Saturday at the Flames.
When asked Monday if he'd play in any of those games, McDavid said, "I'm not sure. Just feeling good, that's all."
Oilers general manager Ken Holland said Sept. 11 that it was
unlikely McDavid would play in the preseason
and it was possible he would miss the season opener Oct. 2 against the Vancouver Canucks.
"I'd rather be safe than sorry," Holland said. "If he's not ready for opening night, then he's not ready for opening night."
Last season, McDavid had an NHL career-high 116 points (41 goals, 75 assists), second in the League to Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov, who had 128 points (41 goals, 87 assists).
The Oilers captain has 372 points (128 goals, 244 assists) in 287 NHL games. The No. 1 pick in the 2015 NHL Draft was voted winner of the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP in 2016-17.