McDavid and Tkachuk trained together after Oilers' Cup Final loss

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They may be rivals on the ice, but come the offseason, Connor McDavid and Matthew Tkachuk are working together to improve their games.

Edmonton Oilers fans have long hated Matthew Tkachuk, who spent several seasons with the Calgary Flames before joining the Florida Panthers before the 2022-23 season. That hate only escalated further when he was able to help defeat the Oilers in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final in June.

While many Oilers fans would love to believe that McDavid also hates him, that doesn’t appear to be the case. In fact, Tkachuk recently shared a story on the Missin’ Curfew podcast about the two training together with some other top NHL stars this summer in Vail. He even poked fun at himself when it came to competing against McDavid and a few others.

“I remember we were doing a two-on-two drill, and it was myself and [Nathan] MacKinnon versus [Sidney] Crosby and McDavid. I’m like, ‘Alright boys, wish me luck,'” said a laughing Tkachuk. “Thank god it was a smaller area. If we got out on the open ice, I was screwed. It was fun with those guys, fun getting to know them off the ice. They’re all great guys.”

Matthew Tkachuk went to Vail this summer to work out with Sid, and got in 2v2 drill teaming with MacKinnon against Crosby and McDavid.

Would pay PPV to watch that matchup 🍿 (via @MissinCurfew) pic.twitter.com/3eD8eQVjDX

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) October 8, 2024

Though McDavid did fall short in his quest to win a Stanley Cup championship, he impressed in a big way during the Oilers’ lengthy run, managing 42 points in 25 games. His outstanding performance resulted in him being the first Conn Smythe Trophy winner on a losing team since former Anaheim Ducks goaltender J.S. Giguere did so in 2003.

While the Panthers will be a contender once again this coming season, it is the Oilers who are being viewed as the heavy favourites to win it all in 2025. Of course, they need to worry about getting into the playoffs first, but having what will be an extremely motivated McDavid on their roster should make that a relatively simple task.

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