Fantasy Impact: Connor McDavid will be out “months”. Here is what it means to your fantasy squad…

Connor McDavid suffered a broken clavicle during last night’s game. The injury required surgery and GM Peter Chiarelli stated that he will be out for months. Here is a clip of the hit:

And here is how the news filtered out over the course of 12-15 hours:

Coach McLellan says @cmcdavid97 has an upper-body injury that will keep him out long term.

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) November 4, 2015

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Told the injury to Connor McDavid is his collarbone.

— Craig Custance (@CraigCustance) November 4, 2015

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Oilers' McDavid to have surgery on broken clavicle, GM Chiarelli says he will be out "months" https://t.co/JiTZw04Mdp

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 4, 2015

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Until that point, McDavid had 12 points in 12 and two/thirds games. But the reality is, he had 11 points in eight games heading into last night and he single-handedly revived Nail Yakupov’s career and had Benoit Pouliot looking at career highs.

– Get McDavid’s linemates, who he produced best with, PDO & SH% information/trends HERE –

As far as the team goes, I don’t think this will be as catastrophic as people think. I believe that the Oilers can hang around above the .500 mark until McDavid returns in (what I think will be) February. And once he returns, he’ll help them drive for the playoffs. Most of us had the Oilers finishing around ninth this season and I still think that’s where they’ll end up.

Fantasy Players Impacted – McDavid has played 13 games this season. He’ll end up playing 35 to 45 games, depending on if he can return early (a la Patrick Kane) or not.

His linemates will obviously be hurt by this. Yakupov was on pace for 63 points. I would be surprised if he topped 50 now. All 10 of his points came with McDavid on the ice (see the line production section here). I think Pouliot would have topped 50 points for the first time in his career and now I wonder if he’ll get to 40.

So the Oilers need a scoring-line centerman and here are their options.

Anton Lander – Lander has been playing much better since his call-up late last season, but so far he has zero points in 13 games. He’ll get a look on the second line for now, but if he doesn’t get the bounces he’ll be off it when Jordan Eberle gets back.

Leon Draisaitl – Draisaitl has meshed well with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Taylor Hall so far, posting seven points in three games. But he has only taken two faceoffs in the NHL this year (lost them both). He’s not ready to anchor a top scoring line on this team, but beggars can’t be choosers.

A plugger – Matt Hendricks and Mark Letestu are the other pivots on the team. They could move up to center talented wingers like Yakupov and Jordan Eberle, who will be back from his own injury very soon. This wouldn’t make Hendricks of Letestu fantasy-worthy…but it would boost their points up a little.

A prospect – The Oilers’ top scoring prospect in the AHL is Bogdan Yakimov, who has the big three points for Bakersfield. I can’t see this being an option. (Yakimov's profile can be found here)