Reports reveal what’s holding up Connor McDavid’s contract extension

Insiders, pundits and fans remain confident that superstar captain Connor McDavid, who has been eligible to ink a contract extension since July 1st, will re-sign with the Edmonton Oilers.

Earlier this summer, it was reported that Oilers general manager Stan Bowman and CEO of hockey operations Jeff Jackson travelled to Ontario to meet with McDavid’s agent Judd Moldaver, and tough questions were asked about the future in Edmonton.

Which pretty much means when are the Oilers getting that darn Stanley Cup.

While everyone keeps saying that McDavid will re-sign, perhaps on a shorter four to five year deal, insider Frank Seravalli provided an update that caused some concern on where contract talks stand at this point in the offseason.

“To my knowledge…do not believe the two sides have even gotten to the point…of trading numbers; it’ll get wrapped up in relatively short order; not expecting any hiccups.”

As soon as the Oilers were able to re-sign McDavid at the start of the month, many fans and pundits wanted the deal to get done fast. At the time, former NHLer and Spittin Chiclets podcast co-host Ryan Whitney (and huge Oilers’ fan) said that Edmonton needs to know what McDavid wants to do and they must know if he wants out in the next month.

“If he doesn’t win a Stanley Cup, like, things are a lot different. Money’s not different, fame is not different, but in his heart, it will be different. If he were to go on and leave the Edmoton Oilers, being a former player, I really, I wouldn’t hate him. Like you have the right, you really do. I would crush me. It would crush Oilers fans. I would not be somebody who hates him. I would end up being pretty f—ing disgusted, though, if he doesn’t tell them because he knows. He knows if he’s going to leave probably in the next month or so, right? If he knows he has to tell them like, ‘hey I’m not, I’m out.’ And they have to trade him and try to get something.”

Bob Stauffer recently interviewed Oilers GM Stan Bowman, asking for an update in the discussions with McDavid’s camp, to which the general manager replied:

“We haven’t had any of those types of detailed discussions yet, but it, but we certainly will. And I think we’re, we’re very encouraged by all the conversations I’ve had to date. And when the time comes, the time comes.”

McDavid is the face of the franchise and fans are hoping to see him re-sign, just like close friend and star temmate Leon Draisaitl did last summer when he inked a contract worth $14M AAV through 2032-33. And while I get that some fans don’t want to end up losing McDavid for nothing if he would ever choose to test free agency next summer, I don’t get the feeling that’s what he is planning to do.

In his exit interview after another Cup Final loss, McDavid admitted he will take some time to accept losing his second consecutive Stanley Cup Final before turning his attention to a potential contract extension. He will be playing out the final season of an eight-year, $100-million contract in 2025-26.

Per Puck Pedia, the Oilers now have $225,834 in current projected cap space. They need to get everything ironed out ahead of next season and make sure they offer McDavid exactly what he wants. Whenever he and the Oilers get a meeting done.