Leon Draisaitl held back outburst of tears when speaking about Connor McDavid

The Edmonton Oilers lost the Stanley Cup in Game 7 to the Florida Panthers on Monday night, and Leon Draisaitl almost lost control of his emotions in his post-game interview.

The star forward struggled during the Final, though it was confirmed that he was playing injured, but so was his captain Connor McDavid. The superstar won the Conn Smythe Trophy for most valuable player during the playoffs despite playing for the losing team, posting eight goals and 34 assists in the postseason. When speaking about his captain, Draisaitl held back tears in a heartbreaking speech on his teammate:

“He’s the greatest player to ever play in my books. So many things that a lot of people don’t see that he does. He single handedly turned our franchise around.”

“Just love, love sharing the ice with him. He’s just a really, really special person.”

McDavid did not come out onto the ice to accept the Conn Smythe trophy, which prompted Draisaitl to say: “I don’t think he cares.”

“It speaks to how amazing of a hockey player he is, but there’s no player in the world that wants to win a Stanley Cup more than him. (He) does everything right every single day just to win it one day. It’s really hard, especially him (McDavid) being sad.”

Draisaitl was overcome with emotion throughout the entire interview. After all, the Oilers were just one goal away from sending it into overtime.

“But obviously it wasn’t meant to be,” could only say Draisaitl.