Connor McDavid has a message for the Edmonton Oilers heading into training camp. Everybody plays, or nobody sticks around long.
"If you're not asked to do much or you're not playing much, it's hard to feel a part of it," McDavid said, according to Bleed Oil Blue, citing Sportsnet's 32 Thoughts podcast.
That's not a throwaway line from the captain. Mike Babcock takes over as Edmonton's head coach this fall, hired back on June 23, and McDavid is already setting the tone before camp opens.
McDavid didn't stop at asking for more buy-in. "It's not just a couple of guys that drive a team to winning. It's everybody," he said.
His example? Carolina, rolling four lines, six defencemen and multiple goalies through their run.
The Hurricanes finished 53-22-7 this past season with a plus-56 goal differential, tops in the Metro. Edmonton finished 41-30-11, good for 93 points and second in the Pacific.
McDavid's monster year wasn't enough for Edmonton
McDavid put up 48 goals and 90 assists for 138 points last season. Leon Draisaitl chipped in 97 points of his own across 65 games.
Evan Bouchard quietly produced 95 points from the blue line, proof the depth McDavid wants already exists in pockets.
Here's the thing. Edmonton has had elite top-end talent for a decade and it hasn't been enough on its own.
McDavid seems to know that better than anyone. Asking for a deeper bench isn't a knock on the stars, it's an admission the current formula has a ceiling.
Babcock inherits a roster built around three or four names carrying the load, and now the captain is publicly pushing for something closer to Carolina's model.
That's a big ask for a franchise that has leaned on McDavid and Draisaitl to bail it out for years.
Whether Babcock can actually build that identity by October is the real question. Camp battles for those bottom-six and third-pairing jobs just got a lot more interesting.
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Should the Oilers build a deeper roster even if it means less ice time for their stars?
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