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McDavid explains his tense talk with Edmonton Oilers teammate at practice

Preston Hodgkinson
Preston Hodgkinson
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Nov 9 2025, 11:13 pm
McDavid explains his tense talk with Edmonton Oilers teammate at practice
Christopher Creveling/Imagn Images

Frustration is starting to seep in with the Edmonton Oilers, and captain Connor McDavid is trying to get the team back on track.

There was no time for the team to dwell on Saturday night’s embarrassing 9-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche. Edmonton took to the ice on Sunday morning, intending to make sure that kind of performance does not happen again.

It was not your usual kind of practice, as things were tense between players. At one point, McDavid seemed to get into a spirited argument with defenceman Evan Bouchard. Mattias Ekholm was also involved, from the looks of it. TSN’s Ryan Rishaug captured some video of the moment.

 

The two appeared to be in disagreement about something, but cooler heads prevailed, and things looked to be smoothed over. For an outsider, it may not seem like a good look to have teammates arguing during practice, but for McDavid, this kind of thing is essential in getting better.

When asked about the moment after practice, McDavid explained how this can help the team get back on track.

“Everybody as a whole wants to be better, myself included,” McDavid said. “Normal to have conversations with guys about different things we see out there. The game has felt, at times, unorganized, out of sync. You only figure that stuff out through talking and communicating with your teammates.”

The show of emotion should be a positive sign for this struggling Oilers club. It’s been over a month of uninspired hockey from Edmonton, and that needs to change quickly. McDavid getting into it with one of his teammates shows that he knows that things need to get better and the standard needs to be raised.

Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch says he’d rather see that than nothing at all.

“I think the worst part of fighting or animosity is when partners don’t talk or a team doesn’t talk,” Knoblauch said. “Right now, there’s communication, which I appreciate… We’re not gonna grow and get past it if everyone’s silent.

“I like that everyone is talking, whether it’s been in the dressing room, in our meetings, or even on the ice. It’s good to have that, but we have to also show some of that frustration on the other team.”

Edmonton has found a way to climb out of these holes in each of the last two seasons. It’ll be up to them to do that for a third consecutive year, but they can’t just wait for it to magically happen.

 

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