Auston Matthews and Connor McDavid send out cryptic message on Sunday.

Two major stars in the NHL are involved in something strange.

Recently, two well-known players from the National Hockey League sent out some puzzling messages that have left many fans confused and some excited.

It all started on Sunday when Connor McDavid, the captain of the Edmonton Oilers, posted a tweet. He shared a picture of himself holding a small round object and wrote, “Need a smaller stick for this…” He also tagged Auston Matthews, the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs, in his post.

The tweet was odd and didn’t really make sense by itself. However, things got more interesting when Matthews replied to McDavid. In his own tweet, Matthews shared a picture of himself holding what looks like a tiny puck, almost like a mini version, with the words, “I got the puck,” and he tagged McDavid in return.

 

Need a smaller stick for this… @AM34 pic.twitter.com/FtkA1dpFpx

— Connor McDavid (@cmcdavid97) March 1, 2026

Even though neither player has revealed what’s happening, it seems like this could be part of a fun marketing campaign by McDonald’s, hinting that the fast food chain might be bringing back its popular mini sticks. If you take a closer look at McDavid’s photo, you can see the classic McDonald’s red color on the wall behind him, and it looks like part of the famous golden arches is showing too.

Just a little over a year ago, McDonald’s introduced its “Showdown” menu, featuring special items made for both McDavid and Matthews. McDavid had a Big Mac named after him, called the Big Mac David, while Matthews had a Smokey Quarter Papi added to McDonald’s menus across Canada.
Update: Fans are sharing videos on the internet that prove the mini sticks are back. It looks like more NHL players, in addition to Matthews and McDavid, will be part of this campaign, according to the packaging shown in the video below.

You can check out a close-up of the packaging below, which seems to show that star defenseman Cale Makar from the Colorado Avalanche, Quinn Hughes from the Minnesota Wild, forward Sam Reinhart from the Florida Panthers, goaltender Samuel Montembeault from the Montreal Canadiens, and forward Macklin Celebrini from the San Jose Sharks will be featured.

This is obviously meant for the NHL season of 2025-26, which makes it a bit strange to see Quinn Hughes shown wearing his Vancouver Canucks uniform on the box.