Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid sat in a news conference days after losing in the Stanley Cup Final to the Florida Panthers for the second straight season. He was peppered with questions about his future, with unrestricted free agency looming in summer 2026 if he doesn’t sign an extension with the Oilers.
The Edmonton media was fishing for any sign that McDavid was committed to the organization and the city, but he wasn’t biting. Someone asked if he had a sense of unfinished business with his teammates after coming so close to raising the Cup, losing in seven games to Florida last season and in six games this month.
“This core has been together for a long time and we’ve been building to this moment all along. The work that’s gone on behind the scenes, the conversations, the endless disappointments and some good times along the way, obviously. We’re all in this together, trying to get it over that finish line,” McDavid said.
Then came the four words that shook a city to its soul.
“With that being said,” McDavid continued, “ultimately, I still need to do what’s best for me and my family. That’s who you have to take care of first.”
It was the first time McDavid even hinted at hesitation about his future in Edmonton. He’s entering the final season of an eight-year, $100 million deal signed in July 2017. Many assumed the ink would be drying on an extension with the Oilers — in what is expected to be the richest contract in NHL history — when he’s eligible to sign on July 1. But McDavid is unlikely to sign that extension unless he is comfortable with the progress Edmonton’s made in improving its roster for next season and beyond.
“I’m not in a rush to make any decision, so I don’t think that there needs to be any timeline,” McDavid said. “I know people are going to look at July 1 and will be looking to see if there’s anything done. But for me, no, I’m just not in a rush in that way.”
An NHL source said that McDavid isn’t committed, at this point, to staying with the Oilers beyond next season. But he’s also not committed to moving on from the organization that drafted him first overall in 2015.
“He’s trying to find reasons to stay, not to leave,” the source said. “But everything’s on the table for Connor right now.”
IF MCDAVID DOESN’T RE-SIGN with the Oilers, it would be an unprecedented moment in the history of NHL free agency. Never before has a…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at www.espn.com – NHL…