Connor McDavid had one of the most dominant individual performances in NHL playoff history last spring, but it wasn’t enough for the Oilers to win the Stanley Cup or even reach the final.
Universally known as the best player in his sport and one of its most driven athletes, McDavid being tantalizingly close to his ultimate goal has consumed his every waking moment in the past. After the Oilers were dispatched from the 2020 Edmonton playoff bubble following a play-in series loss to Chicago, McDavid focused on his defensive shortcomings.
He demanded detailed critiques from his coaches and then vowed to improve. After poring over clips of the sport’s best defensive players and honing that part of his game, he underwent “probably the biggest transformation” of an elite player that Oilers assistant coach Glen Gulutzan said he’s ever seen. Since then, McDavid has only enhanced his play away from the puck.
Advertisement
So, last summer, after that loss to the eventual-champion Avalanche, McDavid took it upon himself to make his shot more lethal.
After returning home to Ontario, he studied how to become a better shooter — most notably by watching video of friendly foe Auston Matthews — and practicing for hours on end. He turned himself into the NHL’s top goal scorer this season, making good on teammate Leon Draisaitl’s offseason prediction that he’d net 60 goals.
The Oilers captain just completed one of the best regular seasons in NHL history. He led the league in goals (64), assists (89) and points (153) — the first time someone’s done that since Wayne Gretzky in 1986-87. He also paced all players in power-play points (71), finishing with the fourth-highest total ever.
He’s secured his first Rocket Richard Trophy and his fifth Art Ross. Yet another Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award — he already has two and three, respectively — will come in June.
The work and the output were all done with the intention of making the Oilers even better so they can take the next step in the playoffs — which begin Monday with a first-round rematch against the Kings.
In another way, though, McDavid didn’t let that Western Conference finals loss gnaw at him. He’s taken a step back and discovered ways to disconnect from hockey — something he’s continued throughout this season.
Winning and being one of the best players of all time are still his unquestioned focus. It’s just that having interests away from the rink has helped put him on a smoother path — and made him the best version of himself.
“It freed his mind,” McDavid’s mom, Kelly, says. “He thought (before) that he had to be thinking about it (hockey) or worrying about it at all times in order to win the Stanley Cup.
“Now, he’s got a totally different mindset. That level of maturity and that level of mental health has just been what turned him into this machine this year.”
McDavid’s attention to detail and determination were kicked into overdrive after his horrific left knee injury in April 2019.
He tore his PCL in half, tore his knee joint, and cracked the front of his tibia when he crashed into the post in the regular-season finale — a meaningless game with the Oilers out of playoff contention.
Advertisement
A decision was made to forego surgery — which would have cost him significant playing time — for an intensive months-long rehab process. Activities like gymnastics and figure skating were incorporated to help him prepare for the following season.
“It was a bit alarming just how quickly things can change,” McDavid says. “It definitely changed me. It changed the way I went about things in terms of preparation and taking care of my body. It was a learning moment that’s still scary.”
With that came a change to McDavid’s lifestyle that he’s maintained to his day. Pilates and ELDOA stretching — which improves flexibility and posture — are now staples. So is a greater attention to his diet.
Some teammates used to call him “The Crane” because he’d seldom order unhealthy food, like fries or sweets, but he’d reach onto their plates to sample theirs. That’s less prevalent now, although McDavid says he still loves licorice.
The changes he’d made to his dining and training regimen helped McDavid to excel on the ice, but he’s come to realize those things have helped him mentally, too.
The recent introduction of more sedentary activities has expanded McDavid’s horizons even more. And that self-care has continued to improve his on-ice performance.
McDavid took two university finance courses earlier in the season, following in the footsteps of his older brother, Cameron — the vice president of a Toronto-based private equity firm that invests in the healthcare sector. He reads self-improvement and leadership books, heeding advice that he can apply to himself and to others in the Oilers dressing room.
“I’ve been in the league for a long time. I’m getting older,” McDavid says. “There’s life, too, outside of hockey that you’ve got to get on with at some point.”
That’s worked to the benefit of the Oilers.
Advertisement
“I see someone willing to not only set the example but hold people to a certain standard,” coach Jay Woodcroft says. “That’s true leadership. That’s the area of the game that I’ve seen a ton of growth with him.”
A major change he’s made this season is the way he’s been able to move on more quickly from tough defeats.
“Losses still eat me up,” McDavid says. “That being said, it’s just about growing older and going through things. It doesn’t help to sit and stew with it. You’ve got to get on with it eventually.”
Adds Woodcroft: “He understands where he’s at. He understands where our team is at. He’s 100 percent committed to getting the most out of himself and getting the most out of this team. Part of that is when things don’t go your way, you learn from it, and you move on.
“That’s part of who he is.”
Another part of his growth is leaning on his support network more.
“He’s become more loving,” Kelly says. “When he was little, he was a brooder. If he was upset about something, he’d say, ‘It’s a stupid day.’ He worried about everything. You could tell if he was grumpy.
“I don’t see that from him this year at all. When we go to visit, he’s very warm. He’s not brooding. He’s not worrying. He’s not pulling himself away like he used to when he was younger.”
But that doesn’t mean he’s settled. When things aren’t going well — which hasn’t been often this season — he heads to the sports court in his Edmonton house with rollerblades and a stick in hand.
“The focus is hockey,” McDavid says. “You can distract yourself for a little while, but it always comes back.”
And when it’s truly time to focus on hockey, McDavid zeroes in.
Ask Sherry Bassin, McDavid’s former GM with the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters, about the NHL’s preeminent superstar and he’ll rattle off story after story about why he knew this success was preordained.
“I always thought, ‘Wait until this guy is 24 or 25 years old, when he grows into a man and his legs get stronger,’” Bassin says.
Advertisement
Bassin says McDavid never skips a workout, whether finding time during a summertime charitable event in Erie, Pa., or while squeezing in a session on the morning of teammate Darnell Nurse’s wedding last year.
He talks about McDavid’s insatiable appetite to enhance aspects of his game. Bassin’s go-to anecdote is visiting McDavid’s offseason home in Aurora, Ont., in 2018, only to find him in his piping hot garage, drenched in sweat, determined to improve his shot.
“When he’s got a goal in mind to get better at something, I don’t care what it takes to do, he’s going to do it,” Bassin says. “I want a doctor doing my surgery to have a will to be the best he can be. (McDavid) has a will to prepare to win.”
McDavid’s setup at his southern Ontario house has changed a bit since those days.
He now has a back entrance to the garage, which means he can fire pucks off a plexiglass sheet inward from the backyard. It’s not nearly as hot anymore. That’s a good thing because McDavid was blasting so many shots that there were days when Kelly assumed he wasn’t wearing gloves because his hands were blistered and bleeding. (Her son’s gloves were indeed on.)
“It’s definitely paid off,” Kelly says.
But McDavid wasn’t just hoping that a heavy offseason workload would lead to better results during the season.
He studied clips of Matthews, last year’s Rocket Richard Trophy winner. The Maple Leafs sniper has the best wrist shot in the game. Matthews’ ability to alter the angle of his stick blade before shooting to trick goalies or to get pucks through screens is unrivaled.
“I watched how he scores and goes about it,” McDavid says. “Lots of guys are scoring goals different ways, so it’s just finding different ways to produce.”
McDavid and Matthews share an agency and have developed a friendly rivalry ever since McDavid traveled to Arizona in the fall of 2020 so they could train with other NHLers before the pandemic-shortened 2021 campaign.
Advertisement
Last season, Matthews became the first player since Steven Stamkos in 2011-12 to score 60 goals. McDavid topped him this season. His 64 goals are the most anyone has scored since Alex Ovechkin netted 65 in 2007-08.
“I don’t think I look back at last year and think I had a bad year,” McDavid says. “I thought I had a really, really good year. It’s always been a goal of mine to score more goals. This is the path it’s taken.”
The newfound confidence in his shot has been a key for McDavid.
“He wants to get shots on net and score with them,” Bassin says.
In the past, he felt he often needed to deke his way around defenders to get close to have any real chance to beat a goaltender. That’s why he’s often said scoring goals doesn’t come easy for him. These days, he says, “I shoot the puck at different times and places where I wouldn’t normally. I’d maybe look to pass off. That’s been the biggest change.
“In junior, I used to need a wide-open net to score, whether that was a nice pass or going through some guys. I used to take it right to the net. I was that way when I first came into the league (the NHL). Each year, I’ve been scoring goals from a little further back and further back. That’s all the great goal-scorers. You look at Ovi, (David) Pastrnak, Leo (Draisaitl) — they can score from a little bit of distance. You’ve got to be able to do that.”
McDavid’s 18.2 shooting percentage is the best of his career. Excluding sharp-angle and behind-the-net tallies, he scored 14 of his non-empty-net goals outside of the home-plate area. Nine of those were through screens or while getting around a defender’s stick.
“He’s willing to make the right play at the right time,” Woodcroft says. “He doesn’t just defer to passing the puck to set somebody else up. If the right play is to shoot it, he shoots it. The results speak for themselves.
Advertisement
“Part of that is the willingness to shoot through people and shoot through traffic. It’s a skill that he’s worked on.”
Of course, McDavid was far more than just a marksman this season. It’s not like there’s been a drop-off in other parts of his game.
“He’s just finding ways to add layers upon layers to his game,” Oilers teammate Derek Ryan says. “He’s adding layers and not taking anything away.”
McDavid was the focal point of the best power play in NHL history, which capitalized on 32.4 percent of its opportunities. His passes were instrumental in helping Draisaitl score 32 times with the man advantage, the second-highest total ever.
He has also been a fixture on Edmonton’s penalty kill. He was a mainstay on the PK in 2017-18 but had hardly been used in that role again until Woodcroft was named coach last February. Last season, McDavid usually got on at the end of a kill to try to catch an opposing team off guard.
This season, only Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Mattias Janmark received more total short-handed minutes among Oilers forwards. (He was sixth on the team in average ice time among forwards on the penalty kill.) McDavid had the second-best Corsi for percentage on the team in that situation and the Oilers were outscored only 9-8 with No. 97 on the ice. He recorded seven short-handed points, too, tied for third in the league.
“I like penalty killing. I really do,” McDavid says. “Our system is a skating-man’s system up front. You have to be able to move and skate and close distance. I’ve definitely enjoyed that challenge.”
The PK work is the latest part of McDavid’s continued effort to improve his defensive play, something he’s worked at diligently. He’s now become an effective player away from the puck.
“I like playing defense. I like shutting guys down, too,” he says. “A lot’s been made about my defensive side of things. I think it’s gotten better and better as I’ve moved along in my career, and I really do enjoy it.
Advertisement
“I think it’s how you win, honestly. Your top guys have to be able to play defense. A lot of times we’re out there with the other team’s top guys who are trying to score, too. Early on in my career, it was something that maybe I took a little bit for granted. It’s something that’s super, super important.
“You look at all the guys who’ve won; they all do that.”
Those around McDavid have noticed a different glow around him over the last year. That’s two-fold.
The on-ice stuff speaks for itself. McDavid did the prep work and then improved his shot to add another weapon to his offensive arsenal. He did that while taking another step to round out his overall game — specifically on defense and on the penalty kill.
It’s obvious to anyone who’s watched McDavid for years that he’s never been better.
“You just sit back and enjoy the ride,” Ryan says. “It’s pretty special for us as players to watch it and be a part of it.”
McDavid’s efforts to be the best continue. But above all else, he wants his team to succeed.
“If he puts it in his mind about what certain things can get done, it’s going to get done,” Bassin says.
That matters more than just about anything to him. Regular linemate Zach Hyman says the fire has been evident.
But Hyman has also noticed how McDavid isn’t consumed by the sport the way he was even last season. Hyman, a children’s author and owner of two video game companies, has been a sounding board for McDavid.
“We definitely talk about outside-of-hockey things,” Hyman says.
McDavid doesn’t let that endless pursuit of a championship fester anymore. There’s only so much he can do, after all.
Quality time has improved with his loved ones, longtime girlfriend Lauren Kyle, his parents, Kelly and Brian, and his brother. The five of them, along with Cameron’s girlfriend, Sarah Nanacsik, took a vacation together to Europe last summer.
Advertisement
“In years past, you’d kind of walk on eggshells when things are not going well because he’d be so frustrated and angry,” Kelly says. “With the whole switch in his personality or attitude, you don’t feel that way anymore.”
“Anytime you have a chance to take a break from the game, it’s always good,” McDavid says. “Family, friends, and other interests can help give you a little bit of a mental break as well as a physical break.”
Taking a step back at times has put McDavid in a better place to have those on-ice successes he craves.
“That’s a total change for him,” Kelly says. “Before, if he was upset about something, you knew he was upset. You could tell his body language. You could tell by his attitude. He didn’t want to talk. He didn’t want to hang out. That’s completely changed now.”
That has him in his best frame of mind — which is a good thing because he and the Oilers have their best shot at the Stanley Cup this spring.
(Illustration: Amy Cavenaile / The Athletic. Photo: Christian Petersen / Getty Images)