The NHL’s biggest superstar, Connor McDavid, isn’t rushing to re-sign with the Edmonton Oilers.
“I’m taking my time, going through it with my family, my agent, everybody involved,” McDavid told reporters at Hockey Canada's Olympic orientation camp in Calgary on Wednesday. “We’re going through it slowly.”
On the positive side for Oilers fans, nothing McDavid said suggests he’s going to be playing for a different NHL team anytime soon. In fact, McDavid said he has every intention of winning in Edmonton.
That said, every day he doesn’t back that up with a contract extension will only cast doubt in Oilers fans' minds.
“I want the group to be as focused and dialled in and ready to roll from Day 1 as possible,” McDavid said. “You don't need any distractions. As I said, taking my time with it.”
With all due respect to McDavid, there’s an easy solution to avoiding distractions: sign the contract.
The player and team have three weeks to discuss the term, value and structure of another deal before McDavid arrives at camp and faces the same questions about his future.
McDavid’s got all the leverage, and he can basically dictate his annual salary and the length of the extension anytime he wants, as the Oilers would be fools to try to pressure McDavid in any way. It’s a straightforward negotiation with the top talent in the league, and it’s why it should be worrisome to Oilers fans that a deal for McDavid hasn’t been done yet.
McDavid’s teammate and fellow superstar Leon Draisaitl signed his extension on Sept. 3 of last year. McDavid’s Team Canada teammate, Sidney Crosby, re-signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins two days before training camp last year as well. That’s how you avoid distractions – not by making a nebulous statement about going through negotiations slowly.
By contrast, Mitch Marner’s future with the Toronto Maple Leafs was the big topic all of last season, and he had to face the same questions time and again. New York Rangers netminder Igor Shesterkin was the topic of speculation and reports before he signed an eight-year contract extension on Dec. 6, 2024. Heck, the Colorado Avalanche traded superstar Mikko Rantanen in January when a deal was not yet in place.
Now, we’re not here to tell you McDavid is as good as gone from the Oilers. Time may prove him to be a lifelong fixture in Edmonton.
But things can change over time for any player. Just ask Marner, who at one point likely saw himself as a Maple Leaf for life. Marner also discussed his love of being with the Leafs and his focus on playing hockey – but by the end of the season, it was clear he was ready to move on and start again in a new city.
That might not be the case for McDavid in Edmonton, as the Oilers are an excellent team that's gotten extremely close to the Stanley Cup in the last two years, and he is an honorable guy who committed to the squad through the end of this coming season.
What is the case is that, like what happened with Marner in Toronto, Shesterkin in the Big Apple and pretty much any star player who goes into the season without a contract extension, the longer negotiations go, the more they will be a distraction.
Every day without an announcement will heighten the anxieties of Edmonton’s fans. Do with that as you will.
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