Connor McDavid
McDavid is the Oilers' first-line center and top power-play and penalty-kill forward, and the coverage I found has no injury concern and no sign of a role change.
Role
Daily Faceoff's line page (fetched 26 October, last updated 25 October from the 24 October game vs. Toronto) has Vasily Podkolzin, McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on the top line. The same page has McDavid on the first power-play unit with Hyman, Nugent-Hopkins, Draisaitl and Bouchard, and on the first penalty-kill unit. Inside the Rink's projected lines for tonight's Detroit game match that top line, with Hyman, Nugent-Hopkins and Kapanen on the second line. Its injury list names Savoie, Dickinson, Janmark, Regula and two goalies on injured reserve, and Ekholm as day-to-day, with no mention of McDavid. I found no ice-time figures for this season, so I give none. Nugent-Hopkins is the other center on the first power-play unit, and he is the only one I saw sharing it with McDavid and Draisaitl.
He starts the season on a line with Draisaitl, on the first power-play unit and the first penalty-kill unit, which gives him every kind of ice time. Edmonton is 8-2-1 going into tonight's game (Inside the Rink preview, 26 October). His last-season line of 33 points in 11 games, including 12 power-play points, shows how much of his scoring comes with the man advantage.
His line has been unstable. Earlier listings in September and early in the season had him with Formenton, Hyman, Nugent-Hopkins or Savoie on the wing, and Podkolzin only settled in recently. In a recent Oilers Nation piece McDavid said he expected the combinations to "move in and out" and hoped for more stability. His 11 games last season is a small sample, and I did not find the reason for it, so I make no claim about it.
Where analysts split
Broad agreement on his role: no analyst I found questions his usage. The only open question is who plays wing on his line. Podkolzin is there now, but the Oilers might again split McDavid and Draisaitl or move Hyman up, and this is a lineup question rather than a dispute about McDavid himself.
Research confidence: reported. Outlooks are grounded in web search over current reporting and refreshed through the season.
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