McDavid ‘can feel the energy’ ahead of Oilers training camp 

EDMONTON -- Connor McDavid would have preferred a shorter offseason, especially after the Edmonton Oilers lost in the Stanley Cup Final in 2024 and 2025.

But the Oilers captain said he is healthy, refreshed and hungry to take another run at Lord Stanley after an extended break last season.

“I’m just excited. It was enough time to miss the game for a little while,” McDavid said Wednesday after an informal team skate. “That’s a good thing. I missed playing, missed being with the guys and that brings energy.

“You can feel the energy around the room. It’s all positive.”

Edmonton, lost to the Anaheim Ducks in six games in the Western Conference First Round last season, the earliest it was eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs since being swept in the first round by the Winnipeg Jets in 2021. Since then, the Oilers have played 81 postseason games (45-36), the most in the NHL over that span. That included being eliminated by the Florida Panthers in consecutive trips to the Cup Final. 

They’ll officially return to work at training camp next week under new coach Mike Babcock before their season opener at home against the Vancouver Canucks on Sept. 29.

“I don’t want to say we took it for granted or there was complacency,” McDavid said of the premature exit last season. “When you go to the Cup Final two years in a row, you feel pretty good about your group and you feel pretty good that when it matters, you’re going to be able to turn it on. Who knows without injuries maybe we could, but you never know.

“But the League is too good. Teams are too good to not go through the checkpoints that you have to go through in the season, and I think you see that here today. Guys are already going hard and getting ready for camp, and we want to hit the ground running this year.”

Edmonton still possesses the firepower required for a playoff run. McDavid led the NHL last season with 138 points (48 goals, 90 assists), and forward Leon Draisaitl had 97 points (35 goals, 62 assists) in 65 games. 

Forwards Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and defenseman Evan Bouchard remain core pieces, and defenseman Ryan Shea and goalies Frederik Andersen and Devon Levi were offseason additions. Andersen won the Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes last season but will miss training camp with an undisclosed injury sustained during offseason workouts. 

Babcock, who ranks 12th in NHL history with 700 wins, will be McDavid’s sixth coach since his rookie season (2015-16) and the eighth for Draisaitl, who entered the League in 2014-15. Babcock has not coached in the League since he was fired by the Toronto Maple Leafs 23 games into the 2019-20 season. 

“He comes in with a long history of success,” McDavid said. “He’s won the big one (Stanley Cup with the Detroit Red Wings in 2008), he’s won (Olympic) gold medals, coached in every single big game. His coaching record speaks for itself. Not to say that we haven’t had other guys like that, but I think there’s no question he’s a little bit different.

“There’s been conversations, lots of conversations throughout the summer. It’s all been very positive, been very good, (and) everything is in a great place coming to camp.”

The clock is certainly ticking with McDavid entering the first of a two-year, $25 million contract ($12.5 million average annual value). He is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent July 1, 2028. 

For now, he’s hungry to try and finish the job here.

“(Training camp hasn’t) started, but the comfort in the room seems good,” McDavid said. “Guys are all-in here; I don’t know how else to say it. Guys have really put their egos aside and guys are here to win and that’s what we want, and we want a coach that matches our intensity and our energy and feel ‘Babs’ does that.

“… I like what I’ve seen. Guys came in early and guys are ready to go, you can tell. There’s a lot of energy in the room, which is great. All signs are positive.”