McDavid calls for best-on-best tourney after NHL's Olympic opt-out

Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid has joined the growing list of players who have expressed their disappointment with the NHL's decision to pull out of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing due to COVID-19 concerns.

However, rather than lament another lost opportunity to compete on the world's biggest stage, the Oilers captain offered up a potential solution.

"They pushed the Summer Olympics back one year, maybe that happens again this year," McDavid said while meeting with the media, according to Oilers beat reporter Tony Brar. "Obviously it’s not looking that way, I think we do need to find a way to get a best-on-best tournament done at some point here.

"We can't go six, seven, eight years without playing best-on-best. I'd like to see something worked out if the Olympics don't get pushed."

This will mark the second straight Winter Games that NHL players will miss after the league didn't go to the 2018 Olympics in PyongChang.

The 2016 World Cup of Hockey was the last best-on-best hockey tournament. McDavid was captain of Team North America, which boasted a talented roster from the United States and Canada aged 23 and under.

McDavid said another World Cup of Hockey would be a "great second option," but there is no true substitute for the Olympics.

"I think you want to play at the Olympics because, for me, it's the biggest stage in sport," he said. "The Olympics is a stage that's on such a global scale and I think everybody wants to play on that stage."

TSN's Pierre LeBrun reported on "Insider Trading" earlier this month that there won't be a World Cup of Hockey in February as there isn't enough time to plan for an event of that scale.