McDavid strongly rejects narrative that Edmonton Oilers are a heartbroken bunch

Contract status aside, Connor McDavid is determined to lead the Edmonton Oilers to a Stanley Cup championship.

In a career that has already featured an abundance of personal accolades, a Stanley Cup is the only thing left for McDavid to get his hands on. The 28-year-old and the Oilers have come close, losing back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals to the Florida Panthers.

While undoubtedly frustrated by the result, the Oilers captain doesn’t agree with the narrative that his team is a heartbroken bunch.

“I think we’ve learned a lot. I think just because you lose in the Final doesn’t mean there’s not wins,” McDavid said in a one-on-one interview conducted by teammate Zach Hyman. “I think everybody thinks about the Oilers as this heartbroken team, but that’s not true at all. We’ve had a lot of success over the last number of years in our runs.

“We’ve won a lot of playoff series, a lot of playoff games. We know how to win when it matters. I think that narrative that we’re this heartbroken group, that we’re just devastated, is not even close to reality. I think we’re the most motivated group in the league. We’ve learned lots. I think it’s only motivated us only more, which I think is a dangerous thing.”

It will be interesting to see what we get from the Oilers this season. They had a ton of departures up front, including the likes of Evander Kane, Corey Perry, and Connor Brown, and have also chosen to run it back with the same goaltending tandem of Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard.

Despite the losses, however, they are expected to have some additional youth up front in Matt Savoie and Isaac Howard, who could both wind up being put in big roles to help contribute offensively. They also brought in Andrew Mangiapane via free agency, a forward who scored a career-high 35 goals in 2021-22.

As good as the Oilers have been in recent years, they’ve struggled out of the gates the past two seasons. They will look to get off to a better start this time around, with their season set to begin on Wednesday, Oct. 8, versus the Calgary Flames.

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