BLOG: The time is now for McDavid and the Oilers

EDMONTON, AB – For Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers, the time is now. 

Over a week before rookies report to Penticton for the Young Stars Tournament and two weeks before the start of Main Camp, the veterans are in town and shaking off the offseason rust at Captain’s skates. 

The on-ice sessions are setup without the Oilers coaching staff and give the group some time to build or re-establish chemistry in advance of organized team activities. The early arrival is a statement of intent by Connor McDavid and the rest of the squad that they have unfinished business to take care of in 2023-24. 

“I think it says a lot about where our group's at,” McDavid said about the team’s early arrivals in Edmonton. “Everybody's dialed in, everybody's super motivated, everybody's determined, and everybody's in it together. I think that's kind of the message that I've been feeling, at least just by guys wanting to come back and make sure we're all together for a couple of weeks.”

The early launch is by design. Over the last two seasons, the Oilers have stuttered out of the starting blocks before becoming one of the league’s hottest teams in the second half of the league calendar. In 2021-22, the Oilers rode the wave of Head Coach Jay Woodcroft’s appointment to a 26-9-3 record in the final 38 games on their way to the Western Conference Finals. 

Last season, Edmonton channeled the deadline addition of Mattias Ekholm to enter the postseason on an 18-2-1 hot streak. Despite the torrid runs entering the playoffs, in both seasons the Oilers were unable to make up for their lacklustre starts and were without the final trump card of home-ice advantage throughout the entirety of the playoffs.

The Oilers captains hope that an earlier start to on-ice activities leads to an early start in the Western Conference standings. 

“I think it's always good to train and skate together, just getting that comradery back is always a good thing,” McDavid said. “Making sure everybody's in a good place come training camp is important and just seeing a couple of guys here over the last couple of days, I think everybody had a great summer, everybody looks great, and everybody came back ready to go.”

It wasn’t difficult to drag the entire roster out of vacation mode and back into hockey mode. There is a palpable excitement towards the start of the season inside the locker room. The expectations have been laid out with the Stanley Cup representing the only satisfying outcome for a team loaded with players in the peak of their careers. 

“Everybody's in their prime,” McDavid said. “It's not like we're waiting on the first-round pick to have an amazing season to come save us and get us in the playoffs like there's been times in Edmonton. Everybody's ready to go.”

A quick start may be what it takes for the Oilers to clear their final hurdle on their way to hockey’s ultimate glory. They have learned their lessons from the last two years and nursed the wounds of postseasons cut short. A fresh – and early – start has a revitalized squad thinking of what could be come next summer. 

“The old saying is ‘you got to lose to learn how to win’ and as painful as that is, I feel that is true,” McDavid said. “I think you see that through all the teams that win, there might be a handful that are an exception to that rule, but I think they go through those things and it's very painful. We've gone through a lot of steps and learned a lot of lessons, and it's up to us to put those to good use.”