An interview between Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas went viral late on Wednesday night, essentially driving many Edmonton Oilers fans to new heights of fear and anger over the possibility of McDavid not agreeing to a new deal here.
How did the story blow up so big, so fast?
Friedman and Bukauskas were perplexed and left wondering about that themselves, mainly because after the McDavid interview the two veteran broadcasters were both reasonably certain that McDavid hadn’t said much of anything new and that he was likely to sign with the Edmonton.
As Bukauskas put it: “He looked like a guy who was very much at peace and confident with where this was all going to go. I think he’s going to stay. Whether it’s two years, three years, I’m not going to try to dissect that part… I think something is going to get done here in Edmonton.”
Friedman agreed. “I’m still going with short term deal in Edmonton and nothing that I heard there changes my opinion.”
But that’s not how upset Oilers fans saw it. Such was the huge and viral reaction to McDavid’s interview that Friedman and Bukauskas discussed it on Friday in their latest podcast.
32 thoughts
The two broadcasters had first interviewed Leon Draisaitl on Wednesday morning, then McDavid right after, for their original podcast, which came out Thursday. The two thought the Draisaitl interivew was very interesting and well worth listening to.
Draisailt had said he didn’t talk daily to McDavid about the contract negotiations and didn’t really know what was going on, but Draisaitl also came across as bullish about McDavid signing a new deal, saying, “This is two sides negotiating, whatever they’re negotiating. So yeah, I’m still obviously very confident and, you know, hope something gets done soon.”
After hearing this bullish comment from Draisaitl, Friedman and Bukauskas interviewed McDavid. “Then McDavid comes and sits down and we do the interview with him, and that’s done,” Bukauskas said. “We look at each other like, ‘I think that went well, like all things considered.’ Connor’s not always the most revealing person. It was conversational. I think we got a couple of things out of it.”
Essentially, the two reporters felt McDavid had been generally relaxed most of the interview and had said nothing earth-shattering, but was more business-like when asked about his contract, repeating scripted lines about his negotiations, including the following statement from #97: “I have all the faith in the world in this ’25-26 season. And beyond that still remains to be seen. We have time. It’s our decision. Basically, we’ve earned that. And we’re gonna take our time with it.”
On Wednesday night on Sportsnet TV, a short clip of the interview ran, but only the part where McDavid talked about his negotiations, and that set off Oilers fans worrying, complaining and catastrophizing.
Said Friedman: “I guess it got out and a lot of Oilers fans (heard the clip on TV and were) like, ‘Oh my God, this is a disaster.’ And I walked out of the room feeling like the exact opposite.”
“Yeah, I know,” Bukauskas agreed. “Everyone’s like, ‘He’s gone, he’s gone.’”
Friedman said you never knows how people will react to his reporting. “n this day and age, on the internet, you never know what’s going to go viral. Because sometimes I say on a pod, ‘Oh, this is going to be big. People are going to go crazy about this.’ And no one cares. And there’s other times I’m saying to myself, ‘No one’s going to care about that.’ And it just becomes a gong show…. Whenever you put something out there, you really are at the mercy of the way the public reacts. You really have no idea. And a lot of times you predict and you’re completely wrong.”
My take
1. There’s a simple reason why Friedman and Bukauskas saw nothing too wild or interesting in McDavid’s talk about his negotiation and why many Oilers fans had such a different reaction and went a bit bananas.
As the two broadcasters said, just before talking to McDavid, the two had talked to Draisaitl, who came across as confident that McDavid would re-sign, something that NHL insiders have also been saying is going to happen, as both Friedman and Bukauskas are well aware and both accept as the most likely outcome.
2. When McDavid talked to them, they weren’t thinking he was going anywhere. What he said to them simply came across as basic things worked out in advance for him to say about the negotiation. It in no way changed their minds about him being likely to sign in Edmonton.
3. Oilers fans, however, heard the information in reverse order. Unlike Friedman and Bukauskas who had heard first Draisaitl’s confident statement about McDavid’s return, fans first heard McDavid’s much colder and non-committal negotiation patter.
Little wonder so many were alarmed.
4. I noticed the following day that after Friedman and Buskauskas’ full interviews with McDavid and Draisaitl came out no the Internet that fans were much relieved, not so worried at all McDavid was leaving. Draisaitl’s words had calmed them.
5. Lessons learned here? The Sportsnet team was simply doing its job and doing it well. It got out the main news and followed up the next day with solid and full interviews with both players.
But consumers of news would do well to realize that one clip from a long interview is just that. It’s not the full story. It’s just the most newsworthy part of the full story. It’s just the part editors and producers have deemed will get the most attention.
If you want the full story, you need to listen to the full interview.
Best bet might be too keep our powder dry until we hear all the facts, or as many of the facts as we can access, and to withhold judgement until that process is complete.
News comes at us fast — faster than ever — but it’s best to take it in slowly, make sure we have as full a context as we can find, and to make judgements slowly.
I’m not saying this is easy to do and that I always do it. I’m saying it’s the best practice for staying calm and sane in this blitzkreig of a modern news environment.
At the Cult of Hockey
LEAVINS: What signals we should read into Day One of Edmonton Oilers Training Camp
STAPLES: McDavid’s top wingman out until early November. Could it work out for Oilers?
LEAVINS: Edmonton Oilers General Manager reveals how the conversations are going with Connor McDavid