McDavid credits Oilers management for 'great job' in offseason

Two weeks after the Edmonton Oilers lost Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final, Zach Hyman was back in the gym. 

"I'm already up early with the kids so I may as well go to the gym," the 32-year-old winger said with a smile.

Connor McDavid was right behind him. 

"Hyms and I have already been back just getting the body moving again and preparing for another year," the 27-year-old centre said. "It's just nice to be in a routine. That's the main thing."'

This offseason will be far from routine for the returning Oilers players. It will be shorter than any other summer they've experienced in the NHL. Even Hyman's annual charity golf event, which took place Monday at the Oakdale Golf and Country Club, feels different. 

"Usually the golf tournament is a mid-summer event," Hyman said. "It's definitely an early-summer event this year."

So early that the feeling from the loss in south Florida has yet to fade.

"It's still fresh," Hyman confirmed on the three-week anniversary of Edmonton's elimination. "It's really, really tough, probably the lowest you've ever been in your career from a hockey standpoint. But after a couple weeks you reflect on it and you gain a great appreciation for how special the run was and how the whole city came together and just the resiliency of the group."

Although, McDavid was in no mood to reflect with the media on Monday.  

"I'm not here to do a big story for you guys," he said before teeing off at the Hyman Celebrity Classic. "I'm here to support Zach and his causes. He's a great teammate and a great friend."

Nearly $500,000 has been raised through the Hyman Family Foundation this year to support Stollery Children's Hospital in Edmonton, the United Jewish Appeal, Toronto's SickKids Hospital and Colby's Kidz. This is the fifth edition of the charitable golf event, which has raised more than $2-million dollars since its inception in 2018. 

The summer calendar features plenty of charitable events in the hockey world, but this one is special for McDavid. 

"Obviously if we're saying 'yes' to everything, we'd be doing something every day," he noted. "But there's a handful of them that are important to me and this is one."

McDavid has a perfect attendance record since Hyman signed a seven-year deal with Edmonton in 2021. The pair enjoy an easy chemistry off the ice and have also hit it off on the ice. McDavid helped his linemate score 54 goals last season. Hyman then led the Stanley Cup playoffs by scoring 16 more goals. 

"He does an unbelievable job representing not only himself and his family, but also the Jewish community, and all while juggling that with two kids at home, and still having the career year that he did," McDavid marvelled. "You can't say enough good things about him."

The feeling is mutual. 

"We're all determined to win," Hyman said. "He wants to win more than anybody."

The Oilers look primed to win a lot more games next season. The team added wingers Viktor Arvidsson (two years, $4 million annual-average value) and Jeff Skinner (one year, $3 million) in free agency earlier this month. Edmonton also retained many of the players that propelled the group to the cusp of a championship. 

"The whole management staff did a great job," McDavid said. "They've had a great offseason so far. It's been short. It's been hurried, but the small time they've been at it they've done great things. Keeping as many guys together as [that] is a good thing. In the salary cap era, it's tough to do that."

CEO of hockey operations and interim general manager Jeff Jackson brought back winger Connor Brown (one year, $1 million), centre Adam Henrique (two years, $3 million annual average value), winger Mattias Janmark (three years, $1.45 million AAV), winger Corey Perry (one year, $1.15 million) and goalie Calvin Pickard (two years, $1 million AAV). 

"It's a testament to the team that guys are willing to come back on team-friendly deals and take discounts to try and win," said Hyman. "I think they see how special it is to play in Edmonton and it's now becoming more of a destination and that's really awesome to see."

"Something in the Alberta water or something, eh," Brown said with a smile. "When you get a group that is incredibly motivated and close and tight, you see that people want to be part of it and that's what you got with some of the signings here."  

It will be a short summer, but the Oilers already sound eager to avenge the Stanley Cup loss. 

"You kind of get fuelled by a situation like that," said Brown, who played his best hockey in the playoffs. "You're so close. We feel like we got a lot of the same guys coming back and learned a lot from that run too ... We're all very motivated to have a good summer."

Hyman pointed out that coming so close provided his team with a road map. They know exactly what it takes. They know exactly how they need to play. And they know they can handle adversity. 

"If we had got swept, we'd be like, 'Oh man, we didn't deserve to win,'" Hyman said. "Maybe it would've been a little bit easier. But to go all the way and to come back the way we did and to be within a goal, you can almost taste it and it kind of gets ripped away. So, that's a harder feeling in the moment. But then, reflecting on it, it's a better feeling than losing early and not having a chance, because you can go into next year with the understanding that you're right there and you know you can do it. So, it's exciting from that standpoint."