The Edmonton Oilers have turned their sights towards July 1st following the end of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They face a loaded plate, with top defender Evan Bouchard in need of a new contract and franchise superstar Connor McDavid eligible for an extension when July rolls around. Both tasks will be top-list items for the Oilers, but it doesn’t seem McDavid is in the same rush to solidify his long-term future. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports that McDavid will want to hear out Edmonton’s plans for the future before signing a new deal. When that deal does come, LeBrun adds that there’s no certainty it’s an eight-year contract, pointing towards the four-year contract that Auston Matthews signed last summer.
Matthew and McDavid are both represented by Judd Moldaver and Wasserman Hockey. Moldaver also represents Columbus’ Zach Werenski and New Jersey’s Brett Pesce, who are each on six-year contracts with their clubs. In fact, Moldaver’s only client on an eight-year deal is Nashville Predators captain Roman Josi, who made a point about staying in Music City for life when he signed his extension in 2019.
This news may seem like a wrench in Edmonton’s machine, but it’s little more than McDavid doing his due diligence before signing a deal that will likely carry him through the majority of his remaining career. Winning a Stanley Cup is a luxury afforded to only a few NHL legends, and McDavid is coming off the heels of back-to-back squandered opportunities.
The connection between McDavid and the Oilers franchise is as strong as any bond across the league. His name has become synonymous with all-time great Wayne Gretzky, whom McDavid routinely chases in both the regular season and playoff scoring records. With 1,082 points in 712 games, McDavid’s 1.52 points-per-game clock in as the third-most in NHL history, behind only Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. He’s a true great, who any team would make a dire effort to keep when faced with any chance of losing him.
But then again, Gretzky’s career spanned tenures with four separate clubs, even after he won four Cups and set all-time scoring records with the Oilers. His move away from Edmonton – and to the West Coast – was perhaps the greatest news to ever hit the league, and reports connected to McDavid suggest a similar pattern could emerge should the modern great ever want to change clubs. LeBrun shares that the Los Angeles Kings and former Oilers general manager Ken Holland are closely monitoring McDavid’s status up North. If any signs of a move shine through, the Kings could once again snatch a perennial superstar from under Edmonton’s nose. LeBrun further adds that the Chicago Blackhawks, Dallas Stars, and New York Rangers could join what’d likely be a small-group race to steal McDavid from the Oilers.
The Oilers are, luckily, just about as far from a decision as they can be. McDavid still has one year left on his current contract. He’s already scored 826 points in 503 games of his current deal, including an incredible 64-goal, 89-assist, 153-point performance in the 2022-23 season. A lot can happen in a year’s time, especially with the talent and assured scoring that McDavid brings to the lineup. Strong lineup additions and a return to the depths of the Stanley Cup Playoffs could go far in swaying McDavid’s confidence in sticking with the Oilers through the end of his career. But, another early exit on the back of a lineup that’s not full strength could sever the ties. The NHL will be entering near-unprecedented territory as McDavid eyes the structure, price tag, and location of his next contract – a deal almost guaranteed to set the new record in league salary.
Gretz won 4 cups with the Oil
What’s your point? Gretzky had Grant Fuhr in goal and Paul Coffey on defense. McDavid has Skinnwe and Nurse. Give McDavid a HoF goalie and defenseman he’d have multiple cups too.
I don’t disagree. But the article stated 3 cups for Gretzky, and it was 4
My bad
And where do you find that HoF goalie?
Pickings are slim. Other teams value their top notch goalies.
You either develop goalies or trade for ones or sign them. Building a championship team isn’t easy. But, if you look at generational players they don’t win without good defensemen or goaltending either.
“…reports connected to McDavid suggest a similar pattern could emerge should the GOAT ever want to change clubs.”
Just so I’m clear, we’re already referring to McDavid as the GOAT?
I’m not saying that he’s not an amazing player, and his statistics to date back that up, but it feels…early to be making that proclamation to me.
The media does this all the time in every sport. Whether it’s recency bias or to drum up viewers/ratings they’ll continue to do this.
Why do you continue to fall for it?
I’m not sure how you came to that with either post. I guess the sauce is going down good tonight.
Seems clear if 3-4 players want max desks there isn’t enough cap space left to have a complete team. Barkov, Reinhart, Forsling and Tkachuk all took less.
A max desk sounds great! Can you provide measurements?
I think Connor McDavid holds off signing a new deal until after this upcoming season to see where Edmonton stands going forward.
If McDavid goes to the open market next off season there will be far more than just 4 teams going for him lol, I can assure you on that. A number of teams who are tight on cap this offseason will have much more cap next season.
Furthermore, LA having Ken Holland as GM doesn’t do them any favors as McDavid didn’t win a Cup under Holland. McDavid is going to want to go somewhere that isn’t connected with Edmonton’s current or former front office if he leaves for a new team.
Here come the hawks.. the mighty Blackhawks… with a ton of cap space and a youth talent pool.. for McJesus to come to.. and win the Cup.
#FreeMcDavid
lol. Nice
Well at least Marner was not mentioned here! LOL
I think He Probably stays. Always remember THe core of Teams Bowman won with in Chicago. Were Guys Tallon drafted/traded for. Think he waiting till end of july . To see what Bowman does . McDavid said it We keep trying same thing. If they sign this years Skinner more of same
Bowman’s name was on the GM door in Chicago, DALE TALLON built those teams. Stan Bowman is useless as a hockey executive.
Winner winner chicken dinner. Bowman inherited a stacked team from Dale Tallon. The Hawks won those three Cups in spite of Stan Blowmen, pun intended. He made one good trade acquiring Vincelette (-2 pts ) sp. That’s it. All his other trades were horrible. They won those cups because Toews, Kane, Seabrooke, Keith, Crawford and most importantly Hossa. Stan has no idea how to build a team. He is one of the worst gms in the history of hockey. When they won the Cup in 2010, certain players I mentioned earlier called Tallon and told him his plane ticket was waiting for him at the airport and he needed to join them in their cup crawl because this is your team that won the Cup. I can neither confirm or deny that Mr. Tallon joined them on this type of forum. If Stan stays McJesus should leave.
How can they write this without referencing the Maple Leafs? Cap-schmap, they’d gladly flip Matthews to make way for Connor…
#NYR
Edmonton or Los Angeles for McDavid.
It starts with one guy taking less to stay. Draisaitl didn’t do that, so why would McDavid take anything less than 15m? & If they give a one-dimensional Dman 10m there will be very little left over to win a title(s). Can be done but gonna be tough.
Nope, get the cash.. It’s the owners fault for the cap. Not the players. End the CAP.
I agree why should the current best player in the world take anything less than max?
I see McDavid maybe heading to a state that has no tax alot of traction is with Tampa Bay.