Seems like yesterday Connor McDavid was 18, now the Oilers captain is 24

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Where have all the years gone?

Connor McDavid had his 24th birthday Wednesday with the Vancouver Canucks on the NHL playbill. It’s the second time the Edmonton Oilers captain has played a professional game on his birthday, with the first coming in the circus atmosphere of Las Vegas.

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Seems like yesterday Connor McDavid was 18, now the Oilers captain is 24 Back to video

It was 2018. McDavid turned 21 and had two assists to reach 200 career NHL points as the Oilers beat the Golden Knights 3-2 in overtime on Darnell Nurse’s game-winner. The Oiler fans in the building were singing, Happy Birthday, that night.

“Yeah, it’s definitely going by quick,” said McDavid, who showed up at Oilers camp in 2015 as an NHL newbie with, as we all recall, little need to shave. “Twenty-four is still young but it certainly isn’t 18. I miss those days.

“I did play the one game in Vegas on my birthday and that was pretty cool. Doesn’t feel quite so much like a birthday this year, opening night trumps everything.”

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Oiler coach Dave Tippett laughed at McDavid turning 24.

“Makes me feel old. I’ve got a 34-year-old daughter,” said Tippett, who is 59.

McDavid has won a Hart trophy and two scoring titles, but the Oilers haven’t gone deep in the playoffs and the clock is ticking on his prime. Wayne Gretzky, who turns 60 on Jan. 26, had won one Cup and was on the verge a second when he was 24.

“Definitely a sense of urgency. The years go by fast and we’ve only been in the playoffs once,” said McDavid, whose Oilers beat San Jose before losing to Anaheim in Game 7 of his one and only playoff appearance in 2017. “I want to play in the big games and I want to start winning something.

“I think we had a shift in the culture in regular season last year and became a winning team but when we came back and into the bubble, it was no good. It was a Tale of Two Seasons.”

MAKE ROOM

It’s no surprise Oilers training camp tryout forward Devin Shore was signed to the league minimum $700,000, with $150,000 if he ends up playing in the American Hockey League. Shore, once traded for Andrew Cogliano, has to go on waivers first and be cleared to go to the taxi — or is it Uber? — squad. But Shore, with 288 games in Dallas, Anaheim and Columbus, had a strong camp.

“He looks like an NHL player, practises like one. He’s a glue guy because he can play all three forward positions and that’s a valuable asset for a coach,” Tippett said.

LOOKING AT GOALTENDING

With the Oilers losing third goalie Anton Forsberg to Carolina, general manager Ken Holland has to find another taxi-squadder, because he wants Stuart Skinner to play on the farm in Bakersfield.

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“I didn’t expect to lose Anton when we put him on waivers but (Carolina GM) Don
Waddell worked with me in Detroit and phoned to give me a heads-up,” said Holland. “We’ll have to find another veteran but we have time. The AHL doesn’t start until Feb. 5.”

Forsberg has remained here, and with Carolina goalie Alex Nedeljkovic clearing waivers and going on their taxi squad, the Hurricanes are taking trade calls on Forsberg now. So, maybe Oilers get him back.

MISSING: ONE BIG SMILE

The death of Joey Moss in October has left a big void around the Oilers room, and we won’t be seeing him belt out, ‘O Canada,’ behind the team bench, unless it’s on the video scoreboard. That was as much a constant as seeing the Zamboni.

“Joey had such a big impact on the whole community. Being around the room on game days or at practices, he always brought a source of light and happiness to it,” said Nurse. “Singing the national anthem, we would look back on the bench and see Joey. I think every single person in the building knew exactly where Joey was.

Nurse, who enters his sixth Oilers’ season, is engaged and has a baby on the way.

“This gives me a different perspective. As a young player, you’re so hungry just to play that nothing else matters. With a child on the way, this makes my love of the game even more. Hopefully, one day I can show my son what this game can bring to him,” Nurse said, who is feeling fortunate to be playing amid COVID-19.

“To the countless number of frontline workers around the world that are facing difficulties, we all need to say thank-you.”

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COVID STRIKES CANUCKS

J.T. Miller, one of only two Vancouver Canucks to play every game last season, is out with COVID issues, as is defenceman Jordie Benn. Miller, who had a terrific return-to-play stretch for the Canucks last August, didn’t test positive, but his friend, Benn, did.

This ‘n’ that: Activated for cap reasons, Oilers D Evan Bouchard will go on the taxi squad after Game 1, so Oscar Klefbom could go on long-term injury … James Neal and Gaetan Haas start on injured reserve. Holland said Neal could be ready next week but Haas, who didn’t take part in camp after flying back from Switzerland, is “a ways away.”

E-mail: jmatheson@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @jimmathesonnhl