Connor Brown Will Reportedly Test Free Agent Market
As the Edmonton Oilers continue to create the necessary cap space to retain defenseman Evan Bouchard on a long-term deal this summer, more cap casualties will be had. According to TSN’s Ryan Rishaug, one of those casualties will be winger Connor Brown, who’s expected to find a new home on the free agent market.
Brown joined the Oilers ahead of the 2023-24 season, reuniting with his linemate from the OHL’s Erie Otters, Connor McDavid. After being snakebitten for much of his first year, Brown will likely conclude his Oilers tenure with 17 goals and 42 points in 153 games, averaging 13:27 of ice time per game.
Although he wasn’t one of their top secondary scorers, Brown became a quality tertiary option for Edmonton, especially in the playoffs. Throughout the Oilers’ back-to-back run to the Stanley Cup Final, Brown chipped in with seven goals and 15 points in 39 games with a +5 rating, averaging 13:51 of ice time.
Interested teams will be hopeful that Brown’s yips and injury issues are behind him, and he can return to being a multi-digit goal-scorer in consecutive years. In his defense, it wasn’t all that long ago that Brown found a comfortable home in the Ottawa Senators’ top-six, scoring 47 goals and 117 points in 191 games over three years.
Unfortunately, even though he’ll command a comfortable deal on the open market, Brown shouldn’t expect to be paid like a typical 20-goal scorer this summer. He does have that upside, but many teams will likely view him as a bottom-six scorer rather than a middle-six option.
Oilers Sign Trent Frederic To Eight-Year Extension
11:00 a.m.: Frederic’s eight-year deal is official and is worth $30.8MM, as reported, the team confirmed.
9:05 a.m.: As expected, the Oilers are set to finalize an eight-year extension for forward Trent Frederic on Friday, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. The total value will be in the $30MM range for an AAV and cap hit of just under $4MM. TSN’s Darren Dreger narrows it down to a $3.85MM AAV for a total value of $30.8MM.
It’s a big payday for a player whom Edmonton hasn’t had a lot of eyes on since they acquired him from the Bruins before the trade deadline. He was dealing with an ankle injury at the time of the deal, only to re-injure it in his first game as an Oiler on April 5. He was back two weeks later for the playoffs, where the gritty and versatile 6’3″ forward was limited to four points in 22 games while averaging 11:24 per game.
That makes such a long-term and well-compensated commitment for someone who played as limited a role as Frederic did in the postseason quite shocking. Edmonton is clearly signing this deal not based on the role he played but the role they anticipate him playing moving forward, though. They’ve already lost a top-nine winger this offseason by trading Evander Kane to the Canucks and could still be poised to lose another in an additional cap-clearing trade. They could also lose all of Connor Brown, Kasperi Kapanen, Corey Perry, and Jeff Skinner to the open market next week, gutting their wing depth.
As such, Frederic is slated for a significant increase in deployment next season, potentially as high as top-six duties on a line with Leon Draisaitl or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins down the middle, depending on which one more frequently flexes up to play on Connor McDavid‘s wing. In doing so, the Oilers hope he’ll not only rediscover but exceed the offensive form he found during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons with Boston.
The 2016 first-rounder’s development was a slow burn, but he finally arrived as a legitimate top-nine piece in those years, totaling 71 points and a +37 rating in 161 games despite only averaging 12:51 per game. He posted a career-high 18 goals, 40 points, and 204 hits in all 82 games with Boston last year before experiencing significant offensive regression in 2024-25. Before the deal to Edmonton, Frederic managed an 8-7–15 scoring line with a -14 rating in 57 games for the B’s.
While that explains the cap hit, it will remain interesting to hear the organization’s rationale for doling out an eight-year contract for a player already in their peak years at age 27 with a relatively limited track record of middle-six production. Frederic will now be under contract with Edmonton through the 2032-33 season, his age-34 campaign.
The Oilers will be down to $12.35MM in cap space for next season after Frederic’s deal is registered. The overwhelming majority of that will be taken up by a new deal for RFA defenseman Evan Bouchard that’s expected to cost at least $10MM. That would leave the Oilers with around $2-3MM in space to fill two roster spots, enough to round out the roster but not to make any high-profile additions.
Pacific Notes: Woodcroft, Klingberg, Perry
Although he failed to find a new role as a head coach in this summer’s coaching carousel, Jay Woodcroft will return to the NHL next season. According to Frank Seravalli of the Daily Faceoff, the Anaheim Ducks are expected to hire Woodcroft as an assistant coach to serve on Joel Quenneville‘s staff.
It’ll be a few days before the Ducks formalize Woodcroft’s hire. His previous contract with the Edmonton Oilers runs through July 1st, so an announcement should be coming then. Woodcroft hasn’t coached in the NHL since the 2023-24 season, when he was fired as the Oilers’ head coach on November 12th.
As valuable as the Ducks likely perceive Woodcroft’s previous head coaching experience, they likely targeted him to help improve the team’s offense. The Toronto, Ontario native coached Edmonton to a 79-41-13 record in 133 games (64.3% win percentage), while the team finished eighth in GF/G at the end of the 2021-22 season, and first in the league during the 2022-23 season.
Other notes from the Pacific Division:
- After a largely successful return to the NHL this past season with the Oilers, it doesn’t appear that defenseman John Klingberg will return to the team this summer. Speaking on the Chris Johnston Show, host Chris Johnston reported that Klingberg is likely to become an unrestricted free agent. That doesn’t necessarily mean he won’t return to Edmonton, but he may find more lucrative offers elsewhere. Although injuries limited his return during the regular season, Klingberg finished the postseason on a high note, scoring one goal and four points in 19 games with a +3 rating, averaging 19:08 of ice time per game.
- Unlike Klingberg, the same doesn’t appear to be true regarding veteran Corey Perry. In today’s episode of Sportsnet’s Around the NHL with Elliotte Friedman, a segment on Sportsnet 590, Friedman shares that Perry and the Oilers are working towards a new deal. Assuming a relatively cheap deal for Perry, there’s little to lose for Edmonton. The 40-year-old veteran is coming off his 20th NHL season, scoring 19 goals and 30 points in 81 regular-season contests, with another 10 goals and 14 points in 22 postseason games.
AHL Notes: Pitlick, Gibson, Utica
The Oilers’ AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors, announced Wednesday they’ve signed forwards Rem Pitlick and Rhett Pitlick to one-year and two-year contracts, respectively. Both are still free agents in the NHL’s eyes, but will have a secure playing role in the pros in Edmonton’s system next season.
Rem, 28, is the older of the two brothers and has the NHL experience to show for it. He’s produced quite well in limited minutes when given the chance but has never found a stable home, suiting up for the Predators, Canadiens, Wild, and Blackhawks in parts of five seasons from 2018-19 to 2023-24. He’s managed a 21-33–54 scoring line in 132 career games, but despite that solid production, he didn’t land an NHL contract for 2024-25. He didn’t sign anywhere until February, when he inked an AHL contract with the Sharks’ affiliate. He finished the year with two goals and 13 points in 18 games, a diminished output from the point-per-game rate he’s hovered around in the minors over the past few years.
He’s joined by his younger brother, Rhett. The 24-year-old was a fifth-round pick by the Canadiens in 2019, but they relinquished his signing rights last offseason. Instead of turning pro following three years at the University of Minnesota, he transferred to Minnesota State for his senior season. He led the Mavericks with 27 assists, 40 points, and a +32 rating in 39 games en route to a CCHA regular-season and tournament championship. He was also named to the conference’s First All-Star Team and was dubbed CCHA Forward of the Year. He finished the season on a tryout with Bakersfield, notching six assists in six games with a plus-eight rating. Both are strong candidates to get NHL contracts from the Oilers at some point next season if they perform well and move up their list of potential call-ups.
Other notable news out of the AHL:
- It’s unclear if the Capitals plan on issuing a qualifying offer to pending RFA goalie Mitchell Gibson, but the depth netminder will be staying in the organization next season regardless. He’s agreed to a one-year contract with the Hershey Bears, per a club announcement. Gibson, 26, was a fourth-round pick by the Caps in 2018 and turned pro in 2023 following four seasons at Harvard. He’s spent the vast majority of his pro career down a level with ECHL South Carolina but has made three appearances for the Bears in the past two years, recording a 1.95 GAA and .920 SV% in the process. He also did quite well in limited ECHL action this past season with a .933 SV% and 1.75 GAA in 14 games for the Stingrays. That may be enough to land him a full-time AHL job as a backup with Hershey in 2025-26 without taking up a contract slot on Washington’s books, particularly if the club doesn’t plan on re-signing UFA Hunter Shepard.
- The Devils announced that the coaching staff for their affiliate, the Utica Comets, is set in stone for next season. Ryan Parent will stay on as head coach after taking over for Kevin Dineen on an interim basis early last year. They had a 31-33-6-2 record after the coaching change following a 0-8-1 start under Dineen. The club also promoted player development coach Mark Voakes to an assistant role under Parent and hired former NHL defenseman Matt Carkner as his other assistant. Utica’s goaltending coach, Brian Eklund, remains in his post.
Offseason Checklist: Edmonton Oilers
The offseason has arrived with the draft and free agency fast approaching. Accordingly, it’s time to look at what each team needs to accomplish this summer. Next up is a look at Edmonton.
Like usual, the Oilers were one of the league’s streakier teams in the regular season. They had a couple of ruts, and although they weren’t as offensively dominant as they were in years past, they still managed third place in the Pacific Division with a 101-point season. That didn’t mean much as the Oilers dominated their way to the Stanley Cup Final, going 12-4 in the first three rounds before losing the championship series to the Panthers for the second season in a row. General manager Stan Bowman now has to navigate another offseason of limited spending flexibility in Edmonton while having some must-needed improvements to make.
Lock Up Bouchard
The Oilers haven’t had many impact players arrive through the draft since Connor McDavid ended their string of high-end picks (for the most part) in 2015. They have hit on one of them, though, selecting defenseman Evan Bouchard 10th overall back in 2018.
Bouchard became a full-time NHL player in 2021-22 and had a good rookie season with 12 goals and 43 points, averaging nearly 20 minutes per game. He took a small step back offensively in his sophomore campaign, putting up 40 points in 82 games, but found a new gear in the postseason as he posted 17 points in just 12 games to lead the 2023 postseason in scoring among defensemen despite Edmonton being eliminated in the second round. That was a sign of things to come, but the cap-strapped Oilers opted to bridge him upon expiry of his entry-level contract that summer, signing him to a two-year, $7.8MM deal instead of freeing up space to commit to Bouchard long-term.
That’s a decision that may come back to haunt them. Now an RFA again, Bouchard has finished top 11 in Norris Trophy voting each of the last two seasons and, while he has some visible defensive faults, plays an elite possession game and has established himself as one of the league’s top offensive rearguards. He’s scored 149 points in his last 163 games, averaged a career-high 23:28 per game in 2024-25, and he’s one of the most productive playoff defensemen in league history. Among D-men with at least 50 postseason games, his 1.08 points per game are second only to Bobby Orr‘s 1.24.
There’s no other option here besides a max-term extension for Bouchard, and they need to do it quickly to avoid the threat of a short-term offer sheet with a high AAV that would be too prohibitive to match. According to AFP Analytics, that deal is projected to cost the Oilers in the high $10MM range per season. They did themselves a favor today by opening up $5.125MM in cap space by trading Evander Kane to the Canucks with no salary retention. Still, they likely need to make another cap-clearing move, too – potentially underperforming winger Viktor Arvidsson and his $4MM cap hit – to be able to sign Bouchard and make some other roster alterations comfortably.
Work On McDavid Extension
There’s been little doubt in the past few seasons that this summer would result in a max-term extension for McDavid to avoid any talk of a free-agency departure in 2026 and restore his place as the league’s highest-paid player. After a second straight Cup Final loss, though, doubt has crept into public opinion. Those fires were stoked more over the weekend when Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reported that no deal was expected to come across the wire in the near future and that it may not be an eight-year deal if it gets done. TSN’s Ryan Rishaug added that informal negotiations will begin this week, but they’re not close to a position of exchanging initial numbers.
Those talks come after somewhat of a down season for the 28-year-old. He dealt with injuries and a suspension that limited him to 67 games, his lowest total in an 82-game schedule since a collarbone fracture limited him to 46 appearances in his rookie campaign. Of course, a “down season” for the best player in the world still means 74 assists and 100 points, even if his 0.39 goals per game were his lowest total since the 2016-17 campaign. 2024-25 also marked the first time McDavid went without a First Team All-Star selection in back-to-back seasons.
Nonetheless, he will assuredly eclipse teammate Leon Draisaitl‘s $14MM cap hit and once again become the league’s highest-paid player sometime in the next 12 months, no matter the team and no matter the length of the contract. Draisaitl signed his extension for 14.67% of the salary cap – if McDavid signs for 15% at the projected $104MM for 2026-27, that would mean a $15.6MM cap hit. He’ll likely get even more – AFP Analytics‘ extension projection is a four-year deal at $16.35MM per season, a reasonable bet if he opts for a bridge deal to maximize his career flexibility, particularly if the Oilers enter next season with a weaker roster.
It all comes down to how soon and for how long McDavid is willing to commit to Edmonton. They’ll almost certainly write him a blank check, so the ball will be in his court throughout extension talks. Winning a championship, not cash, will be his top priority. While that gives the Oilers some leverage, they at least need to provide McDavid with the hope/promise that Edmonton is his best chance of winning a Stanley Cup.
Improve Goaltending Situation
Saying goaltending has been an issue for Edmonton in recent years would be an understatement. They haven’t had a legitimate No. 1 netminder since Cam Talbot‘s brief peak from 2015 to 2018. Stuart Skinner has been a high-ceiling option at times, but at least so far, simply doesn’t have the game-to-game consistency to get Edmonton to their first Cup win since 1990.
He’s also coming off an exceptionally difficult 2024-25 campaign. His .896 SV% in the regular season was a career-low among his seasons as a full-timer, and that figure dropped to an .889 mark in the postseason. The Oilers faced enough high-profile offensive clubs that Skinner was actually still a league-average goalie compared to the quality he faced, but the last team to win a championship without high-end playoff goaltending was the Avalanche in 2022.
Skinner is still an extremely cost-effective option for the club at a $2.6MM cap hit, though, as is backup Calvin Pickard for $1MM. They’re both entering the final year of their contracts and will be UFAs in 2026. Neither warrants entering extension discussions now with much bigger fish to fry in Edmonton. It might make sense for the Oilers to trade away one of them – either in an in-kind trade for an upgrade or to help open space to pursue the top UFA option in veteran Jake Allen. Either way, it’s hard to imagine Edmonton running things back with the same tandem in 2025-26.
Look At Depth Scoring Upgrades
The Oilers were one of the more active teams in free agency last summer, at least in terms of the volume of signings meant for the NHL roster. They were all veteran wingers on short-term deals, namely Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner, while also retaining Corey Perry. Aside from the last name, those pickups didn’t work out. Both Arvidsson and Skinner were healthy scratches in the playoffs, and neither one had more than 30 points in the regular season.
Their cap situation dictates they’ll need to take a similar approach this summer. They’ll need to be better at identifying who has the upward mobility to play with McDavid or Draisaitl, though, and should be open to younger reclamation projects as well. They’ve already added some cheap insurance in the form of reigning SHL scoring leader David Tomasek on the open market, but will look for NHL-experienced options too as cap space allows. There’s an extension in the works for deadline acquisition Trent Frederic, which should go a long way toward solidifying their middle-six group if he can rediscover his 40-point ceiling.
Image courtesy of Sergei Belski-Imagn Images.
Canucks Acquire Evander Kane From Oilers
11:01 a.m.: The trade call is complete, and the Oilers have now announced the deal.
10:01 a.m.: The Oilers and Canucks are working on a trade that would send winger Evander Kane to Vancouver if completed, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports Wednesday. Kane has confirmed the move himself on his X account. The Canucks are sending the Senators’ 2025 fourth-round pick (No. 117 overall) to Edmonton in return, according to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff.
Kane had frequently been speculated as a trade candidate in the days since the Oilers lost their second consecutive Stanley Cup Final. Edmonton requires additional salary cap flexibility this summer to iron out a new deal for restricted free agent defenseman Evan Bouchard while reserving space for potential depth scoring and goaltending upgrades.
The 33-year-old winger is entering the final season of the four-year, $20.5MM contract he signed with the Oilers in 2022, which carries a $5.125MM cap hit. Edmonton is not retaining any of his salary, per Ryan Rishaug of TSN. Kane had a 16-team approved trade list as protection, but it doesn’t appear that was a hiccup for today’s move. Vancouver, Kane’s hometown, was his preferred destination if traded, LeBrun reports.
Kane’s move comes amid an active league inquiry into the Oilers’ handling of his surgeries and subsequent long-term injured reserve placement that kept him out for the entire 2024-25 regular season. The 6’2″ lefty underwent a wide-ranging abdominal/hip surgery last offseason but waited until the beginning of training camp to do so, keeping him sidelined until an expected January return.
Edmonton then announced shortly before he was due to return that Kane needed knee surgery, which paused his recovery from the previous surgery and added weeks to his return timeline. He wasn’t cleared to return until Game 2 of the first round, and the Oilers used the cap space Kane’s LTIR placement created to acquire defenseman Jake Walman from the Sharks in the week before the trade deadline. That surgery was recently reported as addressing a congenital issue, raising concerns with the league about the team’s decision to have him undergo the surgery at that point.
Upon returning to action in the playoffs, Kane’s performance was as expected. Even for his injury troubles and disciplinary concerns – he led the Oilers with 44 PIMs in the postseason – he’s still an extremely effective top-nine scorer and posted a 6-6–12 scoring line in 21 games. His defensive impacts continue to drag on his value, though. While never a stalwart shutdown winger by any stretch, his possession play was historically competent enough to help compensate for his defensive faults. That hasn’t been the case during his last couple of seasons in Edmonton, though, and it was especially apparent in the playoffs. Kane’s 45.5 CF% at even strength was 16th out of 23 Oilers skaters, while his relative impact of -6.5% was 18th.
That won’t be of enormous concern to Vancouver, though, especially with just one season left on his deal. The Canucks desperately needed to acquire scoring depth this offseason, and they’ll accomplish that in a pure form with Kane’s pickup. He’s averaged 29 goals and 54 points per 82 games over his 16-year NHL career. Those numbers would have put him in the team lead in goals and second in points last season. Vancouver only averaged 2.84 goals per game, 23rd in the league. Health is a legitimate concern – Kane’s only topped the 70-game mark once in the last five seasons – but with no long-term financial risk and a minimal acquisition cost, it’s a risk worth taking.
Kane should be penciled into a top-six role in Vancouver. He could even see increased minutes as a top-line wing option for Elias Pettersson, particularly with the Canucks expected to lose Brock Boeser in free agency next week.
As for the Canucks’ salary cap picture, they’re down to just over $7MM in space but have just one roster spot to fill assuming depth names like Linus Karlsson and youngsters like Jonathan Lekkerimaki and Victor Mancini get cracks on the opening night roster in the fall. While Boeser won’t be back in the picture, they have the flexibility to iron out an extension to keep center Pius Suter off the UFA market if they choose.
Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK TV was the first to report that the Oilers received a mid-round draft pick in return for Kane.
Image courtesy of Perry Nelson-Imagn Images.
Oilers, Connor McDavid Begin Informal Contract Negotiations
Yesterday evening, TSN’s Ryan Rishaug gave a brief update on contract extension negotiations between Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers. Rishaug shared that General Manager Stan Bowman and team President and CEO Jeff Jackson are in Ontario to meet with McDavid’s agent, Judd Moldaver, to begin informal negotiations.
Last week, Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reported that McDavid was in no rush to sign an eight-year extension with the Oilers, hinting toward a contract similar to Auston Matthews‘ with the Toronto Maple Leafs. In the perceived driver’s seat for the negotiations, a shorter-term contract would allow McDavid to pursue other options if the Oilers fail to capitalize on their Stanley Cup contention window.
Flyers, Oilers, Sharks Linked To Jake Allen
The Flyers, Oilers, and Sharks are among the most likely destinations for pending UFA netminder Jake Allen if he reaches the open market next week, according to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period.
Allen reaching UFA status on July 1 seems likely at this stage. The 34-year-old is coming off a strong season as the No. 2 to Jacob Markström in New Jersey. He’s due to command a larger chunk of cash than he usually would otherwise because of a UFA class devoid of starting options. It’s not a guarantee, though. Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald said earlier this month he’d make an effort to have Allen back in the fold next season and that there was some mutual interest in an extension.
Things have been quiet since then. Allen projects to land a two-year deal worth $3.5MM per season on the open market, according to AFP Analytics. With Markström likely to still receive the lion’s share of the starts as he enters the final year of his contract and the club looking to leverage its cap space to add to its forward group and get a long-term deal done for RFA defenseman Luke Hughes, that’s likely more than they’re willing to pay to keep him. They might be able to bring him back at a lower cap impact if they extend him a longer contract offer. Still, given his age and the fact that they have internal options like Nico Daws set to play next season on a one-way deal, it’s unclear if they’d be willing to offer him a three or four-year contract to bring the cap hit back down to the $2MM range.
That means Allen could be looking elsewhere for teams in a position to compensate him more up front and give him more than the 29 starts he received in New Jersey this past season. He doesn’t have a particularly lengthy resume as a starting or even 1A option, and he’s only hit the 40-game mark in a season once since 2019. Nonetheless, he played quite well in a 30-game slate last year behind much shoddier defense compared to how the Devils played in front of Markström. His .906 SV% and 2.66 GAA are above-average in their own right but translated to a far more raucous 18.4 goals saved above expected, according to MoneyPuck. That ranked ninth in the league and was more than names with more starts like Filip Gustavsson, Ilya Sorokin, and Joseph Woll.
He’s a good option to challenge an unestablished younger tandem option for the lion’s share of starts as a result, especially on the short-term commitment he’s expected to command. That makes all of Philadelphia, Edmonton, and San Jose logical fits. The Flyers arguably have the largest need for him. While they have Samuel Ersson and Ivan Fedotov under contract through next season, they were both fringe NHL options at best in 2024-25. Ersson was arguably the worst starter in the league, logging a .883 SV% behind a relatively competent Flyers defense that kept his GAA down to 3.14. While he’s recorded back-to-back 20-win seasons and may still have upside as a backup or 1B option, it’s hard to imagine the Flyers making any reasonable progress in their rebuild if he starts 40-plus games again in 2025-26 based on his underwhelming two years as a starter. Fedotov, while expensive at over $3MM against the cap, could be a candidate for waivers or a loan back to Russia after struggling to the tune of a .880 SV% and -13.6 GSAx in only 26 showings this year.
The Oilers’ need for a goaltending upgrade after Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard combined for a .888 SV% in the playoffs and a .897 mark in the regular season has become painfully apparent. If they’re unwilling or unable to leverage Skinner’s value how they see fit in a trade for a bona fide starting option – a highly unlikely outcome – they’ll likely look to land a modest return for the cost-effective Pickard while acquiring an option with a more recent consistent track record to take pressure off Skinner to be the clear-cut No. 1. They could find that in Allen. At his projected cap hit, they’d still be devoting just $6.1MM to their goaltending tandem, and seeing if Skinner can produce better numbers in a more limited workload will be valuable in helping them determine how aggressively to pursue extension talks for the 2026 UFA.
With Alexandar Georgiev out of the picture, one of the Sharks’ top offseason needs is a veteran goaltender to pair with top prospect Yaroslav Askarov as he graduates to a full-time NHL role for 2025-26. Allen would be the best available stopgap option as Askarov shifts from what will likely be a 40-game workload out of the gate to a 60-game one in a few years’ time. Swapping Allen’s play for Georgiev’s subpar .875 SV% and 3.88 GAA last season is likely enough on its own to vault the Sharks’ record back toward the 70-point range after averaging 53 standings points over the last three seasons amid the darkest years of their rebuild.
Connor McDavid In No Rush To Sign Max-Term Extension With Oilers
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.
NHL Continuing Inquiry Into Oilers’ LTIR Usage
When teams have big-money players stashed on long-term injured reserve for significant portions of the season, it’s become commonplace for the NHL to direct additional scrutiny toward their medical records to ensure they’re not circumventing the salary cap. It’s become a hot-button issue in recent years with star players missing most or all of the regular season with injuries, only to return at the beginning of the playoffs when the upper limit is no longer in effect.
In every case in recent memory, the league has been satisfied with the documentation they’ve received, and those inquiries have been closed during the postseason. However, that isn’t the case with the Oilers and winger Evander Kane, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff writes. The league’s investigation on that matter is still ongoing, and the potential remains for the Oilers to have a retroactive penalty if they conclude Edmonton violated the CBA.
It’s not clear what aspect of Kane’s LTIR usage the league isn’t satisfied with. He didn’t return immediately as the playoffs started – he was only cleared for Game 2 of the first round against the Kings, not Game 1, and didn’t receive an AHL conditioning stint leading up to his return. Edmonton also didn’t dip into the cap flexibility that Kane’s LTIR placement afforded them until the trade deadline, when team doctors confirmed he wouldn’t be cleared to play before the end of the regular season.
Speculatively, the issue could be the nature and timing of the second surgery Kane underwent. The power winger played through a sports hernia at the tail end of last season and finally ended up undergoing a wide-ranging procedure that repaired multiple hip and abdominal muscles in September 2024. Waiting until training camp to undergo the procedure was already eye-raising, but it only carried a four-month timeline that would have had him back in the lineup before the trade deadline anyway.
Then, Kane underwent an unrelated surgery on his knee in January, pausing his rehab from his earlier surgery and effectively ending his regular season. The team didn’t disclose details on the procedure at a time. Yesterday, Seravalli reported the surgery removed a “congenital tumor-like growth.” With the knee issue being present for his entire life and career, the league could be questioning why the Oilers chose that specific window to have Kane undergo surgery, particularly so late in his recovery from another procedure.