Connor McDavid makes startling admission about Ryan Nugent-Hopkins' injury during Oilers' Stanley Cup Final run

Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid made a startling admission regarding teammate Ryan Nugent-Hopkins playing through a devastating injury during the 2025 Stanley Cup Final.

During the Oilers’ end-of-season media availability, McDavid addressed numerous issues related to the team’s season.

One issue that stood out was the number of injuries Oilers’ players sustained during the playoffs.

McDavid had this to say about linemate Zach Hyman:

“Injuries definitely played a factor. I would say, you know, missing Hyman in a series where, you know, battles and speed and getting up the ice were an issue. Those are Zach's specialty. Missed him a lot.”

But then, Connor McDavid made a stunning admission about Nugent-Hopkins, stating:

“Nugent being able to gut it out with a broken hand and give us what he gave us was pretty special. That was a pretty painful thing for him to go through, and it wasn't easy to watch him go through that, but it was pretty amazing what he was able to do. Ultimately, just. Yeah, it sucks to not be 100% in those big moments as a group."

While McDavid wasn’t making excuses for the second-straight defeat at the hands of the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final, he underscored how crucial dealing with injuries was for the team.

Check out McDavid’s comments from the 13:17 mark onwards

It’s unclear when Nugent-Hopkins sustained the broken hand. But the team did a good job of keeping the injury news under wraps throughout the Stanley Cup Final.

Connor McDavid in no rush to sign extension in Edmonton

McDavid will be taking his time to sign an extension with the Oilers - Source: Imagn

Connor McDavid made it known during Thursday’s media availability that he is in “no rush” to get a contract extension done with the Oilers.

Those words may sound like he could be contemplating a departure from Oil Country. But that doesn’t seem to be the case, at least not for now.

McDavid stated that he needed some time to regroup.

One very important point McDavid made was that the two sides are talking. However, it’s still too soon to get the ball rolling.

He stated:

“It’s only been a couple of days, I’m sure we’ll get into it over the course of the next couple of weeks. I’m not in a rush to make any decision, so I don’t think that there needs to be any timeline.”

David Pagnotta of the Fourth Period reported that the Oilers and McDavid’s camp have already engaged in talks regarding a potential extension. There are various types of deals on the table at the moment. These deals include short, medium, and long-term ones.

As Pagnotta mentioned, Connor McDavid’s next deal could come in somewhere between $15 to $18, depending on the deal’s length.

Whatever the number happens to be, Oilers fans can hope that both sides make the deal work.