Connor McDavid was tired of hearing the same old song and dance about his tendency to pass the puck instead of shooting at the start of the 2025-26 season. A game against the Minnesota Wild changed his mentality, and since then he has achieved one of the greatest personal successes of his career and, quite frankly, in hockey history.
After scoring a hat trick against the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night, McDavid was asked about the number of photos he takes now, while he didn’t before. His cheeky response should tell fans everything they need to know about where his head is at and the tired narrative he’s trying to shake.
It was noted that he now has 25 shots on net in the past three games. When asked if the game is just offering those opportunities or if he’s making a concerted effort to shoot more, he replied: “We’ve lost this conversation, our group. You guys like to talk about me shooting the puck. I said I want to shoot the puck, and I’m shooting the puck. Please.”
McDavid made the choice… But what took so long?
Clearly something has changed in McDavid. He doesn’t miss nearly as many opportunities to score as he did when he started the season. He’s gotten so strong that he’s leapfrogged to second in the NHL scoring leaderboard, is on pace for 53, and is trending toward a 143-point season.
Whether he choked up because he was being questioned or realized on his own that his approach was wrong with the job, he has become more selfish in the best way possible. If McDavid scores, the Oilers are much more dangerous. He becomes more than a threat to the game, but he forces defenses to respond to multiple scenarios, most of which they cannot defend against.
Now that he’s producing at this level, don’t expect that to stop. And if it’s the media that brought about the change, he has a spur in his saddle. He doesn’t plan to keep having these conversations. The fact that he was asked about it after a three-goal performance just means that everyone is still watching and hoping that this change in mentality from the Oilers captain will be permanent.
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