Jon Cooper’s Comments on McDavid Should Ease Oilers Fans’ Concerns

Connor McDavid’s postgame comments after the Edmonton Oilers’ loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning over the weekend took on a life of their own.

Was he hinting at joining Jon Cooper and the Lightning in the future? Is he fed up with his Oilers head coach, Kris Knoblauch? All of that and more has been questioned and discussed in the aftermath, and on Tuesday, the man who was on the receiving end of McDavid’s praise addressed it himself.

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During an interview with the NHL on TNT, Cooper downplayed what McDavid said, delivering a response that should have Edmonton feeling much better about the future of their captain—for now, at least.

Cooper said:

“That’s a tough one for me to comment on. I think I did see it, and to be honest, I didn’t take it the way I think other people took it. Everything that comes out of Connor’s mouth is dissected because of what a phenomenal player he is and what he means to this league. People can take things different ways, but I’ll tell you this: I’ve coached him a couple of times, and he has nothing but praise for how they play. He talks all the time about the team, gives rave reviews of everything that goes on there. Anytime stuff like this happens, if there’s any ounce of frustration when you’re in front of a microphone as much as Connor McDavid is, it gets picked apart. But I’ll tell you—he loves Edmonton. He loves playing there. The stuff we talked about at the Olympics—you know, they’re going to try and make another run. It hurts that the other big boy is out for a bit, but when he comes back, that team has all the makings again,”

The 29-year-old McDavid, of course, signed a two-year, $25 million extension with the Oilers in October, which begins next season (2026-27) and will run through the 2027-28 campaign.

McDavid walked back his comments on Monday, though not everyone was as forgiving of his frustrations boiling over on his team and Knoblauch.

However, after a few days off to regroup, Edmonton played one of its best games of the season on Tuesday night, limiting the Utah Mammoth to just 18 shots on goal in a 5-2 road win. If that performance can help jumpstart McDavid and the Oilers back to the level they showed capable of during the last two seasons—making back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals—then all of this will be forgotten, and speculation about his future will die down in the process.

Next: Former NHLer Confident Connor McDavid Will Be a New York Ranger