Greg Wyshynskijul 21, 2025, 10:23 AM ET
Closegreg Wyshynski is a senior NHL writer at ESPN.
Imagine Conor McDavid and Leon Drysightle, the beer league hockey players and the NHL’s biggest dynamic duo, appearing as ringers in your game that night.
Now imagine surpassing them.
The Edmonton Oilers superstar was a good fit for a Wednesday night pickup game at Magna Centre in Newmarket, Ontario, where McDavid grew up playing hockey. McDavid and Draisaitl hit the ice wearing Oilers practice jerseys to please the fans.
But that wasn’t the case if those fans were hoping that the previous NHL MVP would crush the locals as they were playing video games set to “easy” mode. In fact, reports show that neither McDavid nor Draisaitl had any goals for the game.
Certainly, they were playing at offseason speeds and trying to set up others. McDavid didn’t exactly immerse himself in the bag of tricks when he got a breakaway chance against the opposite goaltender. It wasn’t the goaltender probably bothered him, and he wasn’t given the talent to the story of stopping Conor McDavid on multiple breakaways.
Reports show that McDavid and Draisaitl decreased 4-0 after the end of the first period. They ultimately lost the game 6-2.
According to TSN, On-ICE officials said they were given a heads-up that McDavid and Draisaitl were scheduled to play that night. They were still a bit “star track” but the ref admitted that they worked hard on the occasion “even though it was a summer league match in July.”
This is not the first time McDavid has stopped by to play summer hockey. He caused a stir in 2023 when he was suited to the championship final game with the team that placed Los Angeles Kings star Quinton Byfield as the ringer.
“It’s a league I played with my peers for over a decade. When I played junior hockey, we were back in that league and I was a little surprised to see it exploded,” he told ESPN. “I’ve been playing these games for over 10 years, so it’s pretty funny that it just appears.”
McDavid and Draisaitl will run it with the Oilers next season, seeking a third straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final and their first championship together. But before that, Edmonton fans, as well as NHL fans, are waiting to hear McDavid’s decision on a new contract with the Oilers, as they are set to become unlimited free agents next summer.
