Connor McDavid was back on the ice this week, grinding through pre-camp skates with the Edmonton Oilers before training camp opens.
The captain looked sharp doing agility work in the gym, jumping hurdles and moving like a guy who has no interest in an easy summer.
That tracks. McDavid put up 138 points last season, 48 goals and 90 assists, numbers that still separate him from almost everyone else in the league.
He was even better in a smaller sample, five points and 16 points over his last 10 games of the year, proof the engine never really slows down.
The Oilers finished the regular season 41-30-11 for 93 points, a middle of the pack finish for a team that's used to chasing something bigger.
They closed strong too. Edmonton won six of their final ten and carried a one-game win streak into the offseason.
But the bigger story in Edmonton this summer isn't McDavid's conditioning. It's who's running the bench.
Babcock takes over behind the Oilers bench
Mike Babcock was hired as Edmonton's head coach this year, taking the reins of a team built entirely around its captain's prime.
That's a fascinating pairing. A demanding, old school coach stepping into a locker room anchored by the best player alive, with zero margin for a slow start.
McDavid posted six points in six playoff games last spring, a modest number by his standard, and he finished that stretch at minus-8.
Whether that swing was matchup related, fatigue, or something Babcock is already addressing in these pre-camp sessions is impossible to say from a gym video.
What's clear is McDavid isn't waiting around to find out. He's already jumping hurdles, literally, before camp has even opened.
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Evan Bouchard logged 95 points from the blue line last season, and Leon Draisaitl added 97 of his own, so the top end talent in Edmonton isn't the issue.
The question heading into training camp is whether a new voice behind the bench can turn a 93 point season into something the Oilers haven't found in years.
Is Mike Babcock the right coach to finally get Connor McDavid over the top?
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