Leon Draisaitl says the Edmonton Oilers have taken a step backwards, and Connor McDavid agrees with Leon.
Sportsnet: Gene Principe and Mark Spector on comments made by Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid during their offseason interviews yesterday.
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Principe: “Mark, we’re trending the wrong way. As I’m joined by Mark Spector, another I think, good times with Leon Draisaitl. What did you think of how open and honest he was about the Edmonton Oilers?”
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Spector: “Yeah, Leon Draisaitl stole the show here today on the day of the Edmonton Oilers interview. There’s no question. ‘We’re here, we’ve gone backwards. We’re trending in the wrong direction. We’ve lost our fire this year.’
Oh, listen, Leon is a straight cat. OK? He doesn’t beat around the bush. He tells you what he thinks. And what this organization needed to hear today all came out of Leon Draisaitl’s mouth.
Everyone has to be better, including himself, as he said, but from the management to the coaching staff to all the players, to the guy who folds the towels. What they did this year was not only good in the eyes of Leon Draisaitl, but also in the eyes of the next guy.”
Principe: “What did you think of Conor McDavid, basically echoing Leon’s thoughts? I mean, we look at these two guys as great friends, great players, and they seem to be about the same height.”
Spector: “Oh, sure. And Conor McDavid would never put it as clearly as Draisaitl did. But what he did was follow up every question, where we could say, Leon said this, and Conor was like, ‘Absolutely, I agree.’ He felt that this team may have lost the sense of striving to be a great team because it has become accustomed to being a good team, and lost its ability to say, ‘You know, being good is not enough here.’
You have to do some things. You have to take the regular season very seriously. There is a difference between being a good team that shows up in the play-offs and a great team that has a chance to have a parade at the end of it.”
Principe: “The other thing that Conor McDavid faced was his contract, which is less than the length of Leon’s contract. You know, my opinion, the way I read it, is that he remains committed to Edmonton and the Oilers. Do you think there is a ‘but’ with that?”
Spector: “It will always be there. For people out there who might not know, Conor McDavid has his two-year contract that he signed last year, it will start next season. So that means, a year from today, he will have one year left, and on July 1st of 2027, the Oilers will have to (A) sign McB to do it, or would he like to make his decision, whatever they would like to do the contract in the second year of the deal, or then go skate?
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I will tell you this. The advice from this reporter is that Conor McDavid can’t do what Mitch Marner did in Toronto. If Conor McDavid is going to play for you here for two years, he’d better play five or six. And if he’s only going to play one year from now, it’s going to be a big, big conversation here.”
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