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McDavid cleared for contact, hopes to return right after the All-Star break

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The Oilers have reason to believe that Connor McDavid will return from injury soon after he participated in Edmonton's annual skills competition on Saturday.

Some good news for the Edmonton Oilers and their fans.

Rookie Connor McDavid has been cleared for contact. He’s hoping to return to the lineup in the team’s first game back from the All-Star break on Feb. 2.

The plan is for McDavid to practice with Edmonton’s AHL team in Bakersfield during the break, but he won’t play in any of their games.

“The practices are a little bit more intense, with a lot of battling and stuff like that,” said McDavid, per NHL.com. “It will be good to be involved in that and hopefully come back feeling good and ready to go for the 2nd. Obviously, with this long break, it’s not ideal to go and sit around for eight days and then try to come back and feel good. I think it’s a good opportunity for me to feel good and be ready to go when I come back.”

The 19-year-old fractured his left clavicle in a Nov. 3 game against the Flyers and he hasn’t played since (above).

With Ryan Nugent-Hopkins sidelined and their playoff hopes dwindling, the Oilers could certainly use McDavid.

Edmonton is eight points behind Arizona for the final playoff spot in the Pacific Division (the ‘Yotes have three games in hand).

The Oilers had their annual skills competition on Sunday. Here’s some footage of McDavid taking part in target practice: