McDavid said overtraining lead to poor regular season start

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Finnegan Frost
September 5, 2024 (7:33 PM)

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During a recent interview with Mark Spector, Connor McDavid opened up about some issues he faced last offseason.

Last summer, Connor McDavid went full-tilt during his offseason training, exploring different training methods in order to get in shape for the 2023-24 regular season. Despite the efforts to get into shape, McDavid admits that he overtrained and his performance was hindered during the early stages of the regular season.

«I went with a little bit of a different strategy this summer,» he said. «In years past, it's just been very volume heavy, Very go, go, go. Throw everything at the wall and hope something sticks. That strategy, as well as it's worked for me, I think about the beginning of last year.

«I was just very tired and fatigued from a long summer of training, and was not feeling very good on the ice. And it translated.» McDavid said

By the time the Oilers made a coaching change early in the season, replacing Jay Woodcroft with Kris Knoblauch, the club had gone 3-9-1, and McDavid had missed a pair of games due to injury. In the 11 he played, he had scored just two goals and 10 points.

Although 10 points in 11 games is considered outstanding production for any player in the league, Connor McDavid knows he was better than that. McDavid mentions that he switched up his training during this offseason and made sure the same mistakes weren't mad made again.

Fans are eagerly awaiting to see how McDavid performs out of the gate this season. Hopefully the team fairs better than a 3-9-1 start.

source: Oilers Nation
Oilers' Connor McDavid says overtraining in off-season led to sluggish start in 2023-24