Oilers notebook: Playoff rivals, McDavid and Reinhart named to Canada's Olympic team; Kane needs to step up in Hyman's absence
Edmonton Oilers ' captain Connor McDavid, of course, headlined the first six players named to the 2026 Canadian Olympic team along with mentor Sidney Crosby, Norris trophy winner Cale Makar, Nathan MacKinnon, Brayden Point and Florida Panthers' rival Sam Reinhart.
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It'll be the first time McDavid has played in the Olympics in his 10 NHL seasons.
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'Incredibly honoured to represent my country at the biggest sporting event in the world,' said McDavid, who did get to play at the 4Nations Face-off in February against the United States, Sweden and Finland, so he got a taste of best-on-best, but without the Russians, who won't be taking part in the Olympics in Italy, either.
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'You think of the Canadian players that can be named to that Olympic team, and to be selected again (after the 4Nations), it means a lot, obviously,' he said.
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But, that's then, and this is now, before Game 6 against Panthers.
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'We're looking forward at what we have right in front of us. That's a heckuva opportunity to go and win a (Stanley Cup Final) game,' said McDavid.
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McDavid's Oilers sidekick Leon Draisaitl, who'll likely wear the C in Italy for Germany, was a slam-dunk on their first six selections. So was forward Tim Stutzle and defenceman Moritz Seider. Goaltender Philipp Grubauer, Lukas Reichel and Florida's centre Nico Sturm, an extra for Panthers, were the others.
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Reinhart is part of the Panthers top line with captain Aleksander Barkov (selected for Finnish Olympic team), tasked with trying to limit McDavid's damage in the Final.
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But, Reinhart, who has played 311 games over the past three seasons with regular-season (246 games) and all the playoff contests with Panthers in their third straight Cup Final, was a teammate of McDavid at the 4 Nations, too.
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What did he learn about McDavid, the teammate?
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'His speed speaks for itself. I don't know if I'm ever going to get there, so there was not much I picked up from that standpoint,' said Reinhart, with a smirk. 'But to be able to see that first-hand, we always joke that even stepping on the ice for practice, he's going faster than anyone two seconds from being on the ice. Faster than I've ever gone in my life. Stuff like that is cool to see.
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With Zach Hyman sorely missed because of his wrist surgery, the Oilers were counting on Evander Kane to provide some goals and assists in the Final. But the only place he's been on the stats sheet, apart from one game, is penalties. Clearly they need more from Kane, who was hobbled in last year's Final with his hernia issues. But he's healthy now, and yet has one foot in coach Kris Knoblauch's doghouse as a fourth-liner in Game 5.
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