The spectre of Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid’s contract has been looming for more than a year in Oil Country.
While his eight-year contract doesn’t run out until July 1, 2026, chatter about getting McDavid re-signed intensified in Edmonton the moment that his buddy Leon Draisaitl agreed to an eight-year extension with the Oilers on Sept. 3, 2024.
But all that talk has mostly revolved around what the length and amount of the contract will be. It’s never really been about whether McDavid would actually stick around in Edmonton, because there was always a confidence that the deal would get done.
Even as the summer came and went without McDavid signing an extension, that belief remained. Just two weeks ago, Oilers insider Bob Stauffer said he was “at 102% McDavid signs”. Fans speculated that McDavid would use the occasion of a concert last weekend at Commonwealth Stadium by one of his favourite musical artists, Morgan Wallen, to announce that the contract is signed. McDavid did indeed walk out on stage with Wallen on Friday, but didn’t tell the 55,000-plus fans what they wanted to hear.
However, it wasn’t until Tuesday (Sept. 16), on the eve of the opening of training camp, that the mood in Edmonton truly changed. And it took all of 193 seconds for panic to set in.
In a video clip lasting 3:13, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas sit down with McDavid to talk about his contract status. The Oilers captain doesn’t duck any questions and gives fairly candid answers. Which is exactly why the interview set off alarm bells in Edmonton.
McDavid Is Thinking Things Over
Asked first how he feels about everything, McDavid said, “I feel good. I feel focused on the year. My body feels good. I’m excited to get going, I’m excited to get camp going, and getting into the routine of things, and as far as all that other stuff goes, I’m not focused on it. Playing is the easy part, so we’re getting to the easy part here.”
Friedman followed up by asking if anything (with respect to contract negotiations) has changed, and if we should be prepared for the announcement of a signing in the near future.
“Nothing’s changed as of now,” McDavid replied. “As I said all along, and I’ve said since June, I’m going to take my time, and I still intend to do that. It’s a big decision, and it’s not something I take lightly, or my family takes lightly. Everything in my life has been building to be here and be in this position and be in this moment, and it’s not something that I’m just going to dream and decide. I’m going to think it over, and we have been, and we’ll continue to do so.”
McDavid Keeps Focus on This Season
Friedman admitted that he, like pretty much every fan in Edmonton, is surprised that the deal isn’t done by this point in time: “Should I be surprised? Like, am I wrong, or is anybody who’s surprised wrong to be surprised?” McDavid said no.
“I think everybody’s entitled to think whatever they want,” the superstar centre said. “I think people just kind of assumed that things were going to happen. And that just goes to show that not everybody knows exactly what’s going on. My wife and I obviously love being here in Edmonton, and we have every intention, as I said, to win here in Edmonton and I have all the faith in the world in this ’25-26 season. And beyond that still remains to be seen. We have time. It’s our decision, basically. We’ve earned that, and we’re going to take our time with it.”
Finally, when asked what he needs to see from the Oilers to commit to them for the long term, McDavid spent several seconds pondering his answer.
“That’s a good question. Truthfully, what do I need to see? I guess the answer is nothing,” he said. “All the pieces are here for ’25-26. It’s going to be a feeling. When the time’s right, the moment’s right, I think it will just be a feeling. But as of right now, I’m just excited to get the season going.”
McDavid’s Comments Hit Hard
Listening to McDavid, it seems that he genuinely hasn’t made up his mind about his future, and doesn’t even seem that close to deciding, or in a rush to arrive at said conclusion. And this interview is when the hockey world finally, suddenly, realized that.
Related: Looking Back on Connor McDavid’s Forgotten First Game in Edmonton
Social media lit up on Tuesday with Oilers fans expressing their worries. But by stepping back from the fervour of the moment and taking time to look at everything in perspective, one realizes that nothing’s changed in what McDavid has been saying.
The only thing different is how – or perhaps when and where – it was said. In the calm setting of an individual interview, with McDavid taking time to think through his responses, it just hits differently. Like a punch between the eyes.
So really, all that’s changed is how fans are processing his comments. Today (Sept. 17), the City of Edmonton is waking up to the start of training camp and the reality that McDavid might not actually be an Oiler for life. Or maybe he will be in Edmonton forever. No one, including McDavid, it seems, truly knows.
