Oilers stars using playoff loss to Golden Knights as summer training motivation

Edmonton Oilers stars Zach Hyman, Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid hit the course on July 31, 2023, at Eagles Nest Golf Club in Maple, Ont., for Hyman's annual charity tournament. (Twitter/Edmonton Oilers)

It’s been 78 days since their season ended, but the second-round NHL playoff loss to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights “still kind of stings” for a trio of Edmonton Oilers stars.

“So close – just right there,” winger Zach Hyman told reporters assembled at a Toronto-area golf course for the start of his annual golf tournament, the Zach Hyman Celebrity Classic, which benefits children's charities including the SickKids Foundation and UJA Federation.

“The team we lost to two years in a row has won it. You feel like you’re right there … this year, we were closer than ever. It’s motivation for next year that we’re right there, and we have to just keep pushing the envelope.”

Both Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, who took part in Hyman’s charity tournament, echoed that sentiment – that the Oilers crept closer this past season to reaching Cup glory – and that they’re using the disappointment as fuel to go even further.

“I don’t know if you ever get over (losing a playoff series),” said McDavid, the NHL’s top scorer in 2022-23 with 153 points and its MVP. “You just learn from it and use it. I think that’s what we’re obviously trying to do, is create motivation for us all summer long.”

Draisaitl, who finished second in league scoring with 128 points, said he thinks the playoff loss isn’t something the Oilers “can’t handle as a group.”

“There is learning that we need to do in the years coming up and learn from a series like that against Vegas,” said Draisaitl, who is spending the rest of the summer training in Toronto. “They’re a really good team. We’re a really good team, too. Florida (Cup finalist Panthers) is a really good team. Every team that makes the playoffs has a chance to win. You saw it. Learn from it, move on and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Some of the improvement the Oilers hope to see next season could come in the form of young players stepping into and flourishing in new roles, something that each team desires from their prospect pool, in training camp, which begins in mid-September.

“That’s the next step for every organization is development from within,” McDavid said, pointing out the important roles filled on the Golden Knights roster by relatively young players such as Nicolas Hague, Zach Whitecloud and Brett Howden. “The young guys, they develop, and obviously the top guys keep pushing to get better. I want to get better, (Draisaitl’s) pushing to get better. Everybody’s trying to be better. That’s where the biggest jumps come from: they come from within.”