Replacement*
Checked out
I think one of the primary reasons for sitting McDavid was not for his benefit, but for all the other Oilers prospects trying to make a good impression. It became pretty clear in the Vancouver game that any liberties taken against McDavid, perceived or real, were going to result in a bunch of the guys trying to demonstrate their toughness and willingness to stick up for team mates. It was likely to continue being a distraction for the players, whose primary goal should be trying to show management what they can do on the ice. I imagine Chiarelli and staff want to see how these guys play in different on-ice situations; not who can jump the next Virtanen the fastest.
Yeah. Chias take was the jumping in wasn't required to what was an entirely clean hit and actually appreciated that McDavid got such an early wake up call to "clean up the cobwebs and welcome to the NHL".
McDavid got a taste and something to think about and also benefits from some time watching. I agree that it got the Oilers a little of one mindset for awhile to go at Virtanen. Kind of a reaction to reading how this org has so little tough team reply is the young turks kind of go overboard looking to fill that aspect.