Auston Matthews’ head scratching comments on Connor McDavid’s new contract

Connor McDavid did it for the Edmonton Oilers. The captain signed a two-year contract extension with an average annual value of $12.5 million, the team announced Monday. Many anticipated McDavid would take a short-term deal with the Oilers to help them remain in their immediate contention window, but no one expected such a wild discount.

When news broke of McDavid’s new deal, it sent shockwaves through the NHL, not because it was huge lengthy contract with a historic cap, but because it was the opposite.

Toronto Maple Leafs’ captain Auston Matthews was one of the many players who reacted to McDavid’s contract extension, and his responses had some fans scratching their heads.

First, he said it best, praising the Oilers’ captain’s decision since it’s never been about financial gain but winning it all:

“For him it’s all about winning and setting himself up for the best opportunity to do that. In my time around him that’s the main thing he wants to do. It’s what everybody wants to do is to win and he’s as committed as anybody.”

But fans started to analyze his comments, especially since Matthews and McDavid are going to be free agents at the same time. As he went on, Matthews appeared to allude to his own contract situation in which there has to be a sweet spot that benefits both the team and the player; whatever that ends up being.

“Everybody’s situation’s different. Every team’s situation’s different. Cap’s going up. It’s tough to envision what the landscape’s going to look like, but in the end you always want to try and find a happy medium.”

Knowing that the cap will go up to potentially nearly $104-million next year, and even higher by the time both men need new deals, fans read into Matthews’ comments, imaginating two possible scenarios.

One, Matthews and McDavid both stick to their guns and take a potential discount to stay with their respective teams. By that time, if both end up signing around $16-million per season, it would still be a bargain.

But what if both decide to follow the money trail right to a team willing to give them $20-million or higher per season?

For now, Matthews claims that loyalty and winning seem to be just as important as it is to McDavid. But we all know how quickly that can change, especially if one of the two Canadian teams start falling out of playoff contention at the same time…