The Edmonton Oilers will officially be without their superstar captain for the next three games.
Amidst some disappointment over the decision, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman confirmed Tuesday while appearing on The Fan Hockey Show that Connor McDavid will not appeal his suspension, meaning he will be out until Jan. 27 when the Oilers host Seattle.
While McDavid is taking full accountability for his actions, some of his teammates have continued to voice their displeasure with the ruling.
"I guess we don't overly care about having our best players in the league in the game," Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl said Tuesday.
Defenceman Mattias Ekholm chimed in as well, saying the decision of three games is "mind-blowing."
Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch declined to comment on the suspension, but did provide some insight into the team's plan without their captain.
"[Ryan Nugent-Hopkins] will play centre ... the lines will be moving around a little bit," he said. "It's an opportunity for everybody. Jeff [Skinner] definitely will get some opportunities to play more minutes than he has and to move up the lineup a little bit, but we're going to need everyone stepping up a little bit more just with the absence of Connor.
"We're going to have to do it by committee."
McDavid had 48 hours from the official decision on Monday to appeal his case, and any games missed while appealing would have counted towards his sentence. Now, the 28-year-old will forfeit US$195,312.51 and serve the second suspension of his career.
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