Connor McDavid Remains Relaxed and Calm About Contract Extension
McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers Know This Contract Extension Will Be Done
The talk of the hockey world remains about Connor McDavid not having a contract extension in place with the Edmonton Oilers heading into the 2025-26 season. Everyone seems to be in a panic over the lack of an extension except him.
McDavid remains “as cool as the other side of the pillow,” to quote the late great Stuart Scott. And meeting with reporters last week, the answers remain status quo.
“Taking our time, and that's going to be the answer for at least a little bit here”, he told the media on September 5th. “When you're trying to play in the next 3, 4, 6, 7, 9 years of your life, you don't just come up with it. You don't just dream it up in one day. You take your time. Talk it over think about it some more, talk it over again.”
And that is what he continues to do. Connor McDavid probably has an idea of what the number should be. But he knows to win, that number has to line up with what the Oilers are thinking. And that is what is taking up the most time, trying to come up with a deal that works for both parties.
“Trying to come up with a solution that works for everybody, as I said, I put everything I have into this and deserve to be paid what I feel is fair,” McDavid added. “With that being said, this is a salary cap, and my only desire is to win. So trying to figure out that balance is tricky.”
And what is sending people into a frenzy is the talk about no term, as all options are on the table.
“As I said, all options are on the table. And that would mean length of term, short term, long term, yeah, no term, you know, it's all options on the table, as I alluded to,” McDavid added.
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But if you listen to what he is saying, it’s not like there is a panic in his voice. Similar to Jeff Jackson, CEO of Hockey Operations of the Edmonton Oilers. There is a confidence that a deal will get done between the Oilers and Connor McDavid.
And the fact that McDavid believes in this group takes the pressure off. He wants to win in Edmonton as he has stated all along. But it is the outside noise from the East Coast that is banging the McDavid drum that he is leaving.
Meanwhile, there are crickets in Edmonton. And maybe everyone needs to relax and just let the situation play out, as mentioned on the Rod Pedersen Show on Monday.
Everyone is overanalyzing what he is saying. He's not going anywhere. He's going to get paid whatever he wants within reason. Obviously, they're not just going to give him a Brinks truck and give him the keys to the team. They could if they wanted to, but he wants to win. He wants to win in Edmonton. The quotes I heard after that practice remind me of Michael Jordan. Jordan got beat up by the Pistons in the conference finals in ‘89 and ‘90. They put the team around them. They went to work, and they went, and they just rattled off three straight championships. Am I saying that's going to happen with the Oilers? Maybe. They went back-to-back Cup finals.
What I do know is the team around him is not as good as the team that lost in game seven. That I know for a fact, the depth scoring isn't it there? Yeah, you have (Leon 0 Draisaitl, you have (Evan) Bouchard, okay, that's great, but not having Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg on that team is crucial. And I think McDavid knows it. He knows what has happened over the last couple of years.
When they go to negotiation table, this thing's going to be over in five minutes. They know what they want to do. He's got to think about everything. It's a slow process. It'll get done. And he stays in Edmonton. I don't buy the hype that he's going anywhere if he signs a deal.
I think it's going to be a four or five-year deal, and then we'll revisit this down the road. But as I've written and said, if he signs a short-term deal, this talk's not going to go away. It isn't, but he's staying in Edmonton. I don't believe the hype that he's leaving. Just pump the brakes a lot on this thing.
Again, all options are on the table as Full Press Media has been reporting. It is not that he doesn’t have a contract. He is entering the final year of his current deal. Having an extension in place before the season would be ideal, but it is not the end of the world.
Neither the Oilers nor McDavid feels that way. So, if they are relaxed about the situation, then you should be too.
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