A new report recently showed Oilers Connor McDavid stepped on the ice to practice, however, that led to fears that he could aggravate his injury by rushing things. On Tuesday of this week, the Edmonton Oilers announced their captain, Connor McDavid, will miss two to three weeks with an ankle injury. <a href='https://www.hockeylatest.com/nhl-team/edmonton-oilers/edmonton-oilers-forward-connor-mcdavid-forced-to-leave-game-against-the-blue-jackets-due-to-lower-body-injury' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>The superstar was hurt in a 6-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday night</a>. Early in the game, McDavid was tripped and awkwardly collided with the boards, as he appeared to jam his left skate hard against the lower part of the sideboards. He left the ice and did not return for the rest of the game. <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/BR_OpenIce/status/1851045228595040351'> </a></blockquote></div> On Tuesday, McDavid returned from Nashville, and shortly thereafter, the Oilers confirmed his expected recovery timeline. Fans who had been prepared for the worst were somewhat relieved to find out <a href='https://www.hockeylatest.com/nhl-team/edmonton-oilers/crisis-averted-connor-mcdavid-injury-update-finally-revealed-by-nhl-insider-elliotte-friedman' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>the injury wouldn't keep him out long, roughly two to three weeks</a>. At least just days after that update, a new update raised some eyebrows when the 'Edmonton Journal' reported McDavid had already been on the ice skating. To many, this was good news, but to some, questions lingered. <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/EdmontonOilers/status/1851655462581846213'> </a></blockquote></div> It wasn't quite the abrupt return-to-play some had anticipated, and David Staples from the 'Edmonton Journal' <a href='https://edmontonjournal.com/sports/hockey/nhl/cult-of-hockey/connor-mcdavid-staked-edmonton-oilers-leon-draisaitl' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>had some reservations on this quick return to action</a>. He noticed how the season for Edmonton since the start of 2024-25 has been bad; the team can ill afford to rush McDavid through. While nobody has pulled out the phones to declare full-scale panic, Staples warned that with pressure mounting for the team's offense to get back on track, McDavid might return before he is fully healed. He referred to comments by Ray Ferraro on the 'Ray & Dregs Podcast' where the latter spoke about the dangers of trying to rush that process. «The one thing, just to keep an eye on, when they (Edmonton) lose and they look like they're susceptible to speed. That's something to be a little bit concerned with is. They definitely did get slower over the off season. And at some point, you'd think they might have to address that.» - David Staples <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/dstaples/status/1852058418313597347'> </a></blockquote></div> Notwithstanding these concerns, Staples remains cautiously optimistic regarding the chances of the Oilers sans their captain. He suggests that a number of good things may come out of this trial. He hopes that McDavid's absence might inspire the rest of the team to step up and find new ways to generate offense. Later on 'Insider Trading', courtesy of TSN, Pierre LeBrun also addressed McDavid's being on the ice, further setting into concrete the notion that in the circles of the Oilers, both hope and caution are afoot. «On Thursday morning, Connor McDavid did put on the skates just to test things out with that ankle injury. I had a chance to speak to his agent, Judd Moldaver from Wasserman. He basically said, �look, things are pretty encouraging here.' I mean, there was some real concern, obviously, when McDavid left the game earlier this week, flew home, went through the battery of tests he did. And you get that two-to-three week timeline. But you know, at this point they're going to have to take things day-by-day, make sure he has no setbacks. But this is a player that's come back ahead of schedule before and [I] won't offer any predictions at this point - but certainly all signs are pointing to him getting up and running here again as soon as possible.» - Pierre LeBrun <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/TSNHockey/status/1852110062761787838'> </a></blockquote></div> In their last game, the Oilers beat the Nashville Predators 5-1 with Leon Draisaitl posting three points. This is a nice result and could bring some rays of hope. This team and all its supporters will have to hold their breath, however, until Connor McDavid is back, walking a fine line between optimism and a need for patience.