NHL Rumors: Connor McDavid Won't Need Surgery to Repair Tear in Injured Knee

Edmonton Oilers superstar center Connor McDavid reportedly suffered a small tear of the PCL ligament in his left knee during the team's season finale against the Calgary Flames on April 6.

On Saturday, Darren Dreger of TSN reported no surgery will be required and that McDavid is expected to make a complete recovery before the start of the 2019-20 NHL season.

The 22-year-old scoring machine registered 41 goals and 75 assists for 116 points, which ranked second in the NHL behind Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning (128), in 2018-19.

Edmonton provided its own update on McDavid's status Friday:

"To be completely honest, I thought my leg was in two pieces when I was sitting on the ice, but thankfully the bone is OK," McDavid told reporters Sunday.

Torn ligaments in his knee or any other serious leg injury could have cost the first overall pick in the 2015 draft a significant portion of next season. Luckily for the Oilers and the NHL as a whole, it sounds like one of hockey's most dynamic players should be available come October.

Now the onus is on the Edmonton front office, led by interim general manager Keith Gretzky, to upgrade the roster around McDavid. The team has reached the Stanley Cup playoffs just once in the center's four seasons with the team despite his extraordinary offensive production.

The effort begins with rebuilding an undermanned defensive corps that caused the Oilers to rank 25th in goals allowed per game (3.3) during the regular season.