Tortorella believes Connor McDavid needs to make a major change for playoff success

Oilers superstar Connor McDavid is off to a flying start to the 2021-22 campaign. In twelve games, McDavid has 24 points (9 G, 15 A).

During McDavid's time in in the NHL, one thing has eluded him, that being the Stanley Cup. The Oilers have made the playoffs three times in McDavid's career, with the deepest they've gone being the second round in 2017. As he's in the midst of his seventh year in the league, something will need to change for the Oilers to make a run to the Stanley Cup.

On Thursday, former NHL head coach John Tortorella was asked, "What's the next step though, to become a winning player, a playoff-winning player? Because you're not going to get the calls you do in the regular season. He didn't last year, and that was a bit of an issue."

"I do think he has to change his game a bit," Tortorella said. "Not turn into a checker obviously, but he's talked about culture, he's talked about standard, about winning. You're not going to outscore, you're not just going to fill the net during playoffs and outscore teams. You have to play on the other side of the puck. You have to have that business type attitude of 'nothing is going to bother me, no matter how you're going to check me'."

Tortorella added, "Don't just talk about it, just play hard, play through it. But the other side of the puck is important too come playoff time. I think he's learning, 'Tipps' (Dave Tippett) is going to have to get that whole group, if they're going to talk about a Stanley Cup, they're all going to have to play a little bit differently, not just try to outscore teams."

With the Oilers off to an incredible 10-2-0 start, anything is possible. Although it's still quite early, with 70 games left in the regular season, thinking about a run to the Stanley Cup Final might be plausible for the Oilers fanbase.

John Tortorella believes Connor McDavid has to change his game to win the Stanley Cup 🏆

"You're not just going to fill the net during playoffs." pic.twitter.com/rkO8nCsYhO— ESPN (@espn) November 11, 2021

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