What I’m hearing about Connor McDavid and the Oilers as he’s set to enter camp without an extension – The New York Times

NHL
As the Edmonton Oilers prepare to kick off another season with serious Stanley Cup aspirations, the waiting game continues with Connor McDavid.
McDavid will not have a new contract extension in place before the team opens training camp with medical and fitness testing at Rogers Place on Wednesday morning, according to league sources.
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While that is not a surprise given McDavid’s recent public comments on the matter, it is still a notable development because of what he means to the organization and to the NHL as a whole.
Having been eligible to sign an extension with Edmonton since July 1, the game’s best player will instead report back to work with only the 2025-26 season committed on his existing deal.
The lack of an extension does not speak to any disconnect on terms or structure. There has remained a consistent and cordial dialogue between Oilers management, McDavid and agent Judd Moldaver throughout the summer, and McDavid has been given a respectable amount of space while weighing the biggest professional decision of his life.
To understand how we got here, with the Oilers coming off consecutive losses in the Stanley Cup Final to the Florida Panthers, we need only revisit what the player has already said himself on the issue.
His biggest point of reticence, per league sources, remains an aging roster, which he believes can contend again in 2025-26 but which doesn’t look to be constructed to sustain a championship level over the long term. And he more or less said as much publicly in June, telling reporters, “If I feel that there’s a good window to win here over and over again, then signing is no problem.”
Three months later, he’s still unsigned.
Intertwined with the roster construction issue is making a determination on what kind of contract would make the most sense to both compensate him fairly and allow Edmonton to continue fielding a competitive team. It’s not an easy line to walk. As one agent with no direct ties to the situation opined Tuesday, “Who would bat an eye if he took two years at $15 million?”
That’s what separates the McDavid case from others involving impact forwards who are eligible for unrestricted free agency in July 2026 — Kirill Kaprizov of the Minnesota Wild, Jack Eichel of the Vegas Golden Knights and Kyle Connor of the Winnipeg Jets most notable among them.
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In simple terms, those negotiations effectively boil down to money, although Kaprizov’s decision to turn down an offer of eight years for $128 million from the Wild last week also raises questions about his desire to be in Minnesota.
McDavid is not chasing a specific number on his next deal, per league sources, and he’s open-minded about how long it runs, telling Edmonton reporters on Sept. 5: “All options are on the table, and that would mean length of term: short term, long term, no term.”
He’s already signed a $100 million deal and long since compiled the credentials needed to get in the Hall of Fame. McDavid owns five scoring titles, four Ted Lindsay Awards, three Hart Trophies and a Conn Smythe Trophy. He’s coming off what was widely considered a “down” regular season and still had 100 points in 67 games.
All that’s left is getting his hands on the Stanley Cup and potentially an Olympic gold medal, with his first opportunity to do that set to come with Team Canada at the Milano Cortina Games in February.
And he’s made it abundantly clear he doesn’t think he’s going to inhibit Edmonton’s ability to chase a Stanley Cup this season by waiting to make any decisions on his future for as long as he deems necessary.
“If guys can’t play hockey because people are talking outside the room, this is probably not the line of work for you,” McDavid said earlier this month. “It’s a loud market. It’s a story, sure, but we’ve played through coaching changes, GM changes, winning streaks, freezing cold streaks where we can’t win a game, and it’s just as loud.
“It’s your guys’ job to talk and to write stories, and everybody understands that, and it’s our job to play hockey. If we can’t do our job because you guys have to do your job, then what are we really doing here?”
Both publicly and privately, the Oilers remain confident in this situation reaching a favorable conclusion. McDavid is entering his 11th season as the heartbeat of the team and has obviously found comfort in the city. The building is full and rocking every night. The organization is known for how well it treats its players. Plus the Oilers can offer him the chance to continue playing with another bona fide superstar in Leon Draisaitl, a close friend and trusted teammate who is signed in Edmonton through 2033.
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There will be no shortage of motivation for either of those players when the puck drops this fall.
Whereas the Oilers were heartbroken following the 2024 Stanley Cup Final defeat in Game 7, they were left angered by the June rematch because of how much the gap had widened between them and the Panthers. They got all of that way again and still felt far away. As a result, McDavid took an already-intense offseason program to a whole new level this summer, trying to push even his own boundless limits and prepare his body for another extended stretch of hockey.
The Oilers should have every expectation that they’re going to get the absolute best out of the game’s best player this season.
Beyond that?
Like everyone else, they wait.
(Photo: Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
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Chris Johnston is a senior writer covering the NHL for The Athletic. He has two decades of experience as an NHL Insider, having appeared on Hockey Night in Canada and the NHL Network before joining TSN in 2021. He currently hosts the “Chris Johnston Show” on the Steve Dangle Podcast Network. He’s written previously for the Toronto Star, Sportsnet and The Canadian Press. Follow Chris on Twitter @reporterchris

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