After a summer filled with rumors about Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl’s pending extension, we’ve finally heard from franchise captain Connor McDavid.
In an interview with Sportsnet’s Mark Spector, McDavid talked about the Oilers’ failure to win the Stanley Cup last season, among other things.
Turns out, McDavid is still grappling with the sting of losing the Cup in Game 7 after forcing such a deciding matchup having trailed the Florida Panthers 0-3 in the series.
“It’s something that you’ll never really get over,” McDavid said. “You’ll never not feel those emotions when you think about it. But ultimately, time moves on, and you’ve got to get ready to go again.”
The Panthers defeated the Oilers 2–1 in Game 7, marking the closest McDavid and the team have come to winning the Stanley Cup during his tenure in Edmonton. It was also the franchise’s first return to a Game 7 Final since their loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006.
Despite the disappointment, McDavid told Spector that he has moved on from the loss and is already focused on the upcoming season. The superstar also revealed changes to his usual offseason training schedule and routine.
“I went with a little bit of a different strategy this summer,” McDavid said. “In years past, it’s just been very volume-heavy, very go, go, go. But I think about the beginning of last year – I was just very tired and fatigued from a long summer of training and was not feeling very good on the ice. And it translated.”
McDavid is coming off scoring 32 goals and a league-leading 100 assists in the 2023–24 regular season. He added 8 goals and led all skaters in the postseason with 42 points.
The center won the Conn Smythe Trophy despite Edmonton’s loss in the Stanley Cup Final, something that had only happened five times in NHL history.
