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

A pair of cryptic messages from two of the National Hockey League's biggest names has left some fans scratching their heads and others eager with anticipation.

It all began with a tweet on Sunday from Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid who shared a photo of him holding a small circular object. The caption of the photo read "Need a smaller stick for this…" while also tagging Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews in the caption.

It was a bizarre tweet that didn't make a whole lot of sense on it's own, but fans began to piece together the puzzle when Matthews responded to McDavid. In a tweet of his own, Matthews would tweet out a picture of him holding what appears to be a very small puck, you could almost call it mini, with the caption reading "I got the puck" and tagging McDavid right back.

While neither man has spilled the beans on what exactly is going on, this appears to be part of a viral marketing campaign on the part of McDonald's, one that would suggest the fast food chain is bringing back it's beloved mini sticks. In fact if you look closely at the photo sent out by McDavid, the signature McDonald's red is on the wall in the back of the photo and the tip of one of McDonald's famous golden arches appears to be poking out as well.

It was just a little over a year ago that McDonald's launched it's "Showdown" menu with items specifically tailored for both McDavid and Matthews with McDavid's Big Mac David and Matthews' Smokey Quarter Papi being added to Mcdonald's menus around Canada.

Update: Fans have begun posting videos online, confirming that the mini sticks are indeed back and it appears as though several NHL stars beyond just Matthews and McDavid will be featured in this campaign based on the packaging you can see in the video below.

You can see a closer shot of the packaging below which appears to indicate that Colorado Avalanche star defenseman Cale Makar, Minnesota Wild defenseman Quinn Hughes, Florida Panthers forward Sam Reinhart, Montreal Canadiens goaltender Samuel Montembeault, and San Jose Sharks star forward Macklin Celebrini.

These are of course for the 2025-26 NHL season which makes the inclusion of Quinn Hughes, who appears in his Vancouver Canucks colors on the packaging, a little awkward.