BLOG: Sunday from Rogers Place 04.04.21

EDMONTON, AB - The Oilers held a practice at Rogers Place on Sunday prior to departing for a three-game road trip beginning Monday against the Montreal Canadiens.
Oilers forward Joakim Nygard has cleared waivers and defenceman Theodor Lennstrom was assigned to the Bakersfield Condors of the American Hockey League on Saturday.
Get all content and commentary from the skate below.

Head Coach Dave Tippett on the COVID-19 situation in the North Division:

"It just reinforces that you got to do things right. Try to give yourself the best chance to keep it out if you can. I think all the players are trying to do a good job but sometimes, that virus finds its way. You feel for those guys out there and hope they can get through it but it's certainly concerning."

Tippett on keeping Caleb Jones in the mix on the blueline:

"We'll probably give him another go tomorrow night and see if we can get him up and running. We're trying to keep all of our people involved here. Him and Laggy (William Lagesson) have a bit of a different skillset but Jonesy was alright the other night and we'll see if we can keep him going."

Tippett on understanding the changes that could come to the schedule and season as a result of COVID-19 cases:

"It probably all depends how long Vancouver is out now. When the teams in the States had that issue, it was easier to deal with at the start of the year than at the end of the year. That's going to be up to the League. It certainly throws a cork into things. I don't think they can manage the schedule until they know how many games Vancouver is going to miss. Each day goes by I'm sure they're monitoring things and we'll see where it goes. I think there's going to be lots of jumping around in the schedule here as it goes to get games in. You got to be ready for whatever comes your way."

Tippett on whether the Oilers organization has updated their safety procedures as a result of the new COVID-19 variants:

"We're just reinforcing some of the same things we've been doing. We've been buckled down pretty hard as it is but you're just reinforcing things to make sure everybody is following the right protocols."

Tippett on the long and challenging 2020-21 NHL season:

"We talked about it at the start of the year that there could be issues like this come up so you can't let it bother you. You got to deal with them. That's been our players' focus. When stuff comes up, it happens and you got to deal with it. Sitting in Montreal not playing for five days, that's not ideal for them either but you got to find ways to manage it and get through it. Players have to do the same thing. I've said it all along, just read and react. When a new situation comes up, you got to embrace it and make sure you're ready for it."

Tippett's approach in the back-half of the season to keep his team engaged:

"There are no dog days when you're playing every game in your own division and you're only playing 56 games. You don't have an opportunity for dog days. You got to make sure you're ready every game. Every game is such a big game. We've got ourselves in a position here we put a little separation with the three teams below but you got to keep that separation. When you play those teams as many times as you do, that separation can go away in a hurry if you drop some games. Every game is an important game. We better not have any dog days because we'll be chasing it."

Connor McDavid on the Vancouver Canucks COVID-19 situation:

"It's something we talked about all season long, is keeping it out. It's a huge part of the season, unfortunately. What's happened in Vancouver is a lot more than hockey. We're hoping everyone is doing alright, families and everyone is OK and they get healthy as quickly as possible. For us, we had that little thing happen in Montreal where it wasn't our team but it affected us a lot. It was kind of a reminder, and then obviously with what happened in Vancouver, to how important it is to keep this thing out."

McDavid on the abundance of caution the Oilers organization is taking:

"Our whole staff has done a great job. (Head Athletic Therapist) T.D. (Forss), Dr. Naidu, Kenny (Oilers Pres. of Hockey Ops & GM Ken Holland), everybody has done a great job of managing and trying to follow the protocols as tightly as we can. We do everything we can, in terms of a team standpoint, and from a management standpoint, everyone feels safe and protected. They've done everything right so far."

McDavid on how different the '20-21 NHL season has been:

"Well, I think the Canadian division has done so well of keeping it (COVID-19) out that it's felt really normal for the most part kind of up until this point. Every other division and every other team has dealt with something like this. This is new for everyone up in the North Division. It's slowed things down and there are going to be some delays. Days in between games and what not but we just got to make sure that when game time comes, whenever that may be, we're ready to go."

McDavid on what the message is in the latter half of the schedule:

"I think you got to stay on it. Lots of guys have given up a ton to play this year. Guys away from families, guys sitting in hotel rooms doing nothing all year long. Everyone has given up a lot to make this season happen across the League but especially here in the North Division and Edmonton. We can't let that go unrewarded by taking our foot off the gas here."

McDavid on the success of Darnell Nurse and Mike Smith:

"You look at their body of work and what they've been able to do for our team is pretty unbelievable. Obviously, Smitty back there is such a battler and leader in our room. He stops the puck but the way he plays the puck helps our D out a lot. He's been unbelievable for us. And then Nursy, this guy is asked to do just about everything he can do as a defenceman. Penalty kills, plays against top lines, shuts down, produces offence, gets on the power play now every and then. He's been asked to do just about everything and he's been amazing. If you're one of those voters, you'd be wrong to not take a peek at them."

McDavid on facing the Montreal Canadiens five more times this season:

"They came into Edmonton early on in the year and they played great. Really beat us bad. Then we played them in their barn in a back-to-back and then they got us on a back-to-back under some weird circumstances. The four games have kind of been a bit unusual. It's another test for our group. They're obviously playing some good hockey since they've been back from their break. It's a good chance for us to show how we stack up against them."