Something intriguing happened while they were working with the second power play unit at practice Monday. McLellan had the other players pick who they thought would win the drill. Those who thought the penalty kill would win stayed by the benches, players who thought the power play would score, skated to the penalty box side. The coach will usually make the ones who guess wrong skate back and forth a few times. It's a fun team building wrinkle added to a regular drill.
Connor McDavid was the only Oiler to skate to the far side of the ice, and bet on his fellow power play specialists. The rest of the team, including members of the first PP unit (Hall, Nugent-Hopkins, Pouliot, Schultz) stayed on the bench side betting on the penalty kill, who the drill clearly favoured. McDavid could not openly bet against his fellow power play unit, even if it meant he was standing all by himself, getting a few jeers from teammates.
In the end, the penalty kill dominated the drill, and McLellan chose not to make McDavid skate on his own, but that's beside the point. The entire power play should have been on the penalty box side, the penalty killers on the bench side, each supporting their fellow units. McDavid was the only one who got that. It was a subtle sign of natural leadership from him.
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