Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid and the NHLPA will not take action over the head injury of Vancouver Canucks forward Conor Garland, an NHL source told ESPN on Tuesday. He appealed against his three-match ban during a cross-examination.

Rumors around the league Monday night suggested McDavid might appeal the ban to commissioner Gary Bettman, who would have the final say on mitigating the penalty.

Ultimately, McDavid's team decided not to appeal because the timeline for an appeal likely wouldn't prevent him from missing the next three games and because Bettman rarely adjusts to decisions made by the NHL's Department of Player Safety, a source told ESPN.

McDavid, who ranks fourth in the NHL with 65 points in 43 games, will miss Tuesday's home game against the Washington Capitals, Thursday's game against the Canucks and Saturday's home game against the Buffalo Sabers. He will lose $195,312.51 in salary, which will be donated to the Players Emergency Assistance Fund.

"I think we're not too concerned about having the best player in the league playing," Oilers center Leon Draisaitl said Tuesday of McDavid's suspension. "I'll leave it at that."

McDavid and Garland collapsed on the ice with less than a minute left in Saturday night's game. As McDavid tried to get back on his skates, Garland grabbed his arm, causing McDavid to punch him with a glove to free himself. As McDavid tried to return to the game, Garland wrapped his arms around the Edmonton captain and took him to the ice for the second time. When Garland continued to hinder McDavid as the two men stood up, McDavid delivered a stiff cross-check to Garland's head.

The Department of Player Safety noted that this was not a routine play McDavid made to take down an opponent or gain body position.

"McDavid had just made physical contact with Garland, and he retaliated aggressively and deliberately, escalating the altercation by raising his stick significantly and making this contact: a high cross-check, with enough force to connect with his opponent's Direct head contact to ensure supplemental discipline," the department said in its video of the timeout.

McDavid was previously suspended once in his NHL career for illegally checking New York Islanders player Nick Leddy's head in February 2019. He was also fined $5,000 in March 2021 for elbowing Jesperi Kotkaniemi of the Montreal Canadiens.

Oilers players said Tuesday they disagreed with the suspension.

Defenseman Matthias Ekholm said the suspension amount is "too high" and it's "shocking" that the NHL Department of Player Safety was able to come up with the number.

Canucks defenseman Tyler Myers was also suspended three games for cross-checking Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard's head following the McDavid incident.

“I think three games is a little too much for both sides,” Draisaitl said.