The real reason Connor McDavid snubbed the Conn Smythe.

Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid has been catching a lot of flak since Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final after he seemingly refused to come out and accept the Conn Smythe trophy as the National Hockey League's most valuable player in the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Many have been critical of McDavid due to the perception that he may be a sore loser, but as it turns out the real reason why McDavid snubbed one of the most prestigious awards in all of hockey couldn't be more different.

Recently, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman revealed that the Oilers captain had actually agreed to accept the Conn Smythe following the Oilers loss in Game 7, with McDavid having every intention of skating out onto the ice after the brutal loss to accept the award. So what went wrong?

Well after agreeing to go out on the ice to accept the award, McDavid felt that he needed to address his teammates as the organization's captain. So prior to going out on the ice to accept the award McDavid would do just that, speaking to a room full of broken hearted teammates and staff. According to Friedman, that conversation took such an emotional toll on McDavid that he was no longer in the right frame of mind to step out onto the ice to accept the award, choosing instead to remain inside of the locker room with his fellow teammates.

From Friedman:

That was so emotional he either didn’t want to leave or was in no headspace to leave.

This of course paints a completely different picture than that of McDavid simply refusing to accept the award because of sour grapes, and if anything it will only serve to further endear McDavid to an Oilers fan base that already recognizes him as one of the greatest players in franchise history.