Oilers’ Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl set to be featured in behind-the-scenes documentary

The Edmonton Oilers’ dynamic duo are taking their talents on the ice off the ice and are being featured in a new documentary series created by the producers of “Drive to Survive.”

The untitled project, done by Box To Box Films and picked up by Prime Video, has already been filming. It will follow Connor McDavid and Matthew Tkachuk “and their teammates, families and friends during the Oilers’ and Panthers’ pursuit of hockey supremacy in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final,” an NHL press release reads.

They aren’t the only two to be featured in the documentary, either. McDavid’s teammate and close friend Leon Draisaitl will also be featured in it.

“The series will feature in-depth interviews with key players, their rivals and those in their closest inner circle – teammates, coaches, and family,” the league said. “The series will also reveal what life on-and-off the ice is really like for the league’s top players. From the quiet reflective moments to the speed and intensity of being on hockey’s biggest stage – revealing the talent, grit, and sacrifice it takes to make it in the NHL.”

Documentaries about the Oilers aren’t anything new. The Boys on the Bus followed the 1986-87 Oilers as they worked towards their third Stanley Cup title, while the documentary series Oil Change followed the team for four seasons between 2010 and 2014. The Oilers have recently offered a premium subscription service called OilersPlus that has given fans unbridled access to the team since 2021-22.

But this will be different. Drive to Survive has aired six seasons since 2019, helping popularize F1 racing while also lowering the average age of sports viewership from 44 to 32, according to The Conversation.

For the NHL’s offering of the show, there’s a large list of players who are set to be featured, including the aforementioned trio, as well as captains of multiple teams, like the Rangers’ Jacob Trouba, the Canucks’ Quinn Hughes and the Avalanche’s Gabriel Landeskog. The show also includes Bruins teammates David Pastrnak and Jeremy Swayman, Golden Knights center Jack Eichel, Maple Leafs winger William Nylander, and Predators winger Filip Forsberg.

“We want to stay true to the world of ice hockey with the series,” said Box to Box Films co-founder and executive producer Paul Martin. “The sport is as beautiful, skillful and graceful, as it is brutal, pressurized and powerful; and we aim to balance the energetic and fast-paced action leading up to the Stanley Cup Final, with the quiet and raw drama taking place off the ice.”

This untitled project marks the fourth original program Prime Video and NHL Productions have collaborated on, featuring a 2021 multi-episode docuseries on the Toronto Maple Leafs called All or Nothing: Toronto Maple Leafs, as well as documentaries Chosen One: Alexandre Daigle and Saving Sakic.

There’s no word on when the new project will air, but the league shared a trailer for it Thursday.

Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.