Connor McDavid is the Edmonton Oilers superstar that is having another outstanding year with 96 points in 58 games. His points per game is the best on the Oilers since Wayne Gretzky. He has transferred that success to the world stage at the 25th Olympic games in Italy with 13 points in 6 games played in his first Olympics.
His point total of 13 is actually a new Olympic record for most points by a player in a single Olympic tournament passing Saku Koivu and Teemu Selanne, who had 11 points each to help Finland win the silver medal in 2006. Although Canada did not win the gold medal in 2026, he was named the top forward and the Olympic ice hockey tournament MVP. Thus, we have now seen McDavid named best player in the NHL, in Canada and the world.
At the Olympics McDavid was their inspirational leader
Sidney Crosby was named captain of a Canadian Olympic team for two Olympic tournaments (2014 and now in 2026). Other notable tournaments that he has been involved in have been IIHF world championships in 2006, 2015 and 2025, 4 Nations Face-Off in 2025 and two years in junior at the IIHF World Junior Championships in 2005 and 2004. For all these seven tournaments, five have resulted in gold medals, so a pretty impressive success rate. He has acquired 16 points in three Olympics so far, the highest among Canadians at the Olympics. He is the spiritual leader of Team Canada whereby the players draw on his previous successes to drive them to ascend to his level of passion and play.
McDavid is still very young and playing in his first Olympics whereby NHL players were allowed to play. Crosby was his idol and Connor has dreamed about playing besides him in an Olympics. He has acquired 13 points alone in his first Olympics and has led by example almost every period and every shift.
If you watch the games carefully, who did Team Canada throw the puck to so they can gain entry into the opponent zone – it was often Connor McDavid. Who did the team throw the puck to before a final play for the powerplay goal – it was often Connor McDavid. Who exhumes passion and desire comparable to Sid the Kid – its Connor McDavid. Who wore the “C” on their jersey in games Crosby was not able to play – its Connor McDavid.
As an Edmonton Oiler fan, we must be ecstatic that Team Canada, management and the players have put so much trust in him to lead the team beside Sidney Crosby. He is truly the inspirational leader on this team as he is for the Edmonton Oilers.
The role for McDavid on Team Canada at the 2026 Olympics
This was likely going to be the last Olympics for Crosby and many knew that. McDavid is a very respectful player and only wore the “C” when Crosby could not play. The Oilers fans know how well McDavid can perform but have never seen him perform in an Olympics. He lived up to what we know of him and more.
He led by example and players like Nick Suzuki, Tom Wilson and Macklin Celebrini commented on his work ethics and how they have learnt from playing with him in this tournament. Crosby said “He did everything humanly possible to lead us” and “led in every possible way”. He continued to say in an interview “We all want to win for each other but you know, especially for him.”
Connor started the tournament with the first hit on a Czech player in their first game and in the next game. For three straight games he had 3 points per game, also a new Olympic record. He went to the Olympics with only one mission – to win a Gold medal for Canada.
In the gold medal game, he pushed the Canadians to have pressure on the US team and they did for more than 40 minutes and pelted the US goalie with 42 shots on net, many of them high quality shots. He fed MacKinnon for a shot on net that hit the outside of the post of a wide open net!
He had a breakaway in the first period and an amazing chance in the 3rd period to put the game away. He fed Celebrini passes that were inches away from making it into the net. We could not ask more of Connor McDavid at this tournament - his performance will be remembered. It was reported that McDavid was involved in 48% of Team Canada's goals at the Olympics which is above the normal 40-45% he is involved in for the Edmonton Oilers in the playoffs.
If there was any negatives against Team Canada, it is the statistic that they relied heavily on McDavid for scoring. Since Crosby will most likely not be in the 2030 Olympics, Team Canada has to find centers that can truly help McDavid especially against teams in the playoff rounds.
Team USA distributed their scoring better with the most points by a single player being 7 compared to McDavid’s 13 points and Celebrini with 10 points. Is that why they won? Possibly, but a more rounded team for scoring with at least 3 capable scoring centres could be one small way to improve Team Canada for the next best-on-best tournament and the 2030 Olympics.
McDavid has always led by his actions on and off the ice and we saw that in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. We all hope that he will be on Team Canada in 2030 and maybe even in 2034 and can leave an Olympic history comparable to Sid the Kid’s legacy in the past 16 years since winning Olympic gold in 2010 in Vancouver.
What to expect after the Olympic break
Connor and Leon Draisaitl stayed healthy during these Olympics. We are all thankful for that and hope they might get a short rest before resuming the NHL season. Can the Oilers find their groove and put together a string of more than 3 wins?
Seattle, LA, San Jose and Anaheim are hot on their heals for 2nd and 3rd spots in the Pacific and can potential bump the Oilers to the wild card spot in the Western Conference. I do not think the Oilers want to be bumped to the wild card spot and neither do fans. A lot of rumours have floating around as to who we might get close to the trade deadline that is coming up on March 6, 2026.
Can Stan Bowman get the right players to enhance the depth of the 3rd and 4th forward groups? Can he find a low cost but talented stay-at-home defenseman to strengthen the defensive core? Can our current goalies play themselves into true playoff shape or do we need to give Connor Ungar a shot with a GAA of 1.73 and save percentage of 0.940 in 23 games in the ECHL/AHL combined?
Those are shockingly amazing statistics by a goalie, even in the AHL, that shows consistency in play and ability to achieve those statistics playing for 4 different teams. He has always been a backup goalie and is finally finding his way with the Bakersfield Condors in the 2025-2026 season. I think the Edmonton Oilers management should give him a shot in the NHL and he could be our secret weapon in the playoffs.
As mentioned in my previous article, let’s hope McDavid/Draisaitl can bring Olympic level of excitement and play to the Oilers in their journey to the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs.