The NHL&#8217;s worst-kept secret is how tight Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid are. 
They&#8217;ve effectively grown up together from young men, to adults, with their kinsmanship growing to both of their partners becoming best friends, too.
And now, their biggest tests as friends have arrived: Will McDavid share any of the <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2024/02/02/edmonton-oilers-captain-connor-mcdavid-wins-nhl-all-star-game-skills-competition/">$1-million he won for taking down</a> the NHL All-Star game skills competition?
&#8220;It was a good weekend, obviously happy for Connor,&#8221; said Draisaitl during a Monday media availability.
&#8220;Obviously put a lot of moral support in for him, so I should get my little cut, but we&#8217;ll figure that out later,&#8221; he added with a laugh.
All in fun.
<div class="jetpack-video-wrapper"><iframe loading="lazy" title="RAW | Leon Draisaitl 02.05.24" width="1424" height="801" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lYMAtmUGQYw?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
But for Draisaitl, the weekend could&#8217;ve gone a bit better — at least, from an individual perspective. He wound up one of the first players cut from the skills competition on Friday night.
While he excelled at the one timers challenge, no surprise there, finishing third of eight participants, and held his own in the stick handling competition, finishing fifth of nine.
The accuracy shooting contest is where the wheels fell off, finishing dead last. It took Draisaitl 46.089 seconds to hit all four of the targets, well off McDavid&#8217;s 9.158-second mark that helped him take home the top spot.
&#8220;Yeah, that wasn&#8217;t great hey?&#8221; he laughed. &#8220;That&#8217;s two years in a row where I kind of laid an egg there, but that&#8217;s alright. I don&#8217;t overly care, to be honest.&#8221;
Maybe at next year&#8217;s All-Star game, Drasiaitl will sit that one out.
And for being one of hockey&#8217;s most lethal shooters, it&#8217;s almost strange to see him struggle in this one. After all, between last season and this, he&#8217;s shot 20.11 percent in all situations, the sixth-highest mark in the league.
All-Star game events aren&#8217;t where Draisaitl&#8217;s eyes are set, however, as Tuesday night his Edmonton Oilers look to get back in the swing of their season, facing off against the Vegas Golden Knights as they eye their 17th win in a row.
&#8220;Both teams know the situation we&#8217;re in, they&#8217;re in,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It&#8217;s going to be a good game.
&#8220;But what I think has made us so successful the last little bit is that we didn&#8217;t talk about it, make too big of a fuss about it. We&#8217;re just going to continue down that path. It&#8217;s going to be a good test for us (Tuesday), and hopefully we can keep going.&#8221;
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Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/zjlaing">@zjlaing</a>, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.
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The NHL's worst-kept secret is how tight Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid are. 

They've effectively grown up together from young men, to adults, with their kinsmanship growing to both of their partners becoming best friends, too.

And now, their biggest tests as friends have arrived: Will McDavid share any of the <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2024/02/02/edmonton-oilers-captain-connor-mcdavid-wins-nhl-all-star-game-skills-competition/">$1-million he won for taking down</a> the NHL All-Star game skills competition?

"It was a good weekend, obviously happy for Connor," said Draisaitl during a Monday media availability.

"Obviously put a lot of moral support in for him, so I should get my little cut, but we'll figure that out later," he added with a laugh.

All in fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYMAtmUGQYw

But for Draisaitl, the weekend could've gone a bit better — at least, from an individual perspective. He wound up one of the first players cut from the skills competition on Friday night.

While he excelled at the one timers challenge, no surprise there, finishing third of eight participants, and held his own in the stick handling competition, finishing fifth of nine.

The accuracy shooting contest is where the wheels fell off, finishing dead last. It took Draisaitl 46.089 seconds to hit all four of the targets, well off McDavid's 9.158-second mark that helped him take home the top spot.

"Yeah, that wasn't great hey?" he laughed. "That's two years in a row where I kind of laid an egg there, but that's alright. I don't overly care, to be honest."

Maybe at next year's All-Star game, Drasiaitl will sit that one out.

And for being one of hockey's most lethal shooters, it's almost strange to see him struggle in this one. After all, between last season and this, he's shot 20.11 percent in all situations, the sixth-highest mark in the league.

All-Star game events aren't where Draisaitl's eyes are set, however, as Tuesday night his Edmonton Oilers look to get back in the swing of their season, facing off against the Vegas Golden Knights as they eye their 17th win in a row.

"Both teams know the situation we're in, they're in," he said. "It's going to be a good game.

"But what I think has made us so successful the last little bit is that we didn't talk about it, make too big of a fuss about it. We're just going to continue down that path. It's going to be a good test for us (Tuesday), and hopefully we can keep going."

<hr />

Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/zjlaing">@zjlaing</a>, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.

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New Year, New Gear! Check out Nation Gear’s latest collections -- hoodies, t-shirts, hats, and more -- for your favourite fans! Plus, keep up to date on upcoming events and travel by subscribing to our newsletter. <a href="https://nationgear.ca/">Shop now at nationgear.ca</a>

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