It was always expected that Connor McDavid would once again become the highest-paid player in the NHL, especially after Edmonton Oilers teammate Leon Draisaitl signed an eight-year, $112 million contract a year ago. But McDavid had different ideas.
As the final season of his eight-year, $100 million deal approached, McDavid participated in negotiations with the Oilers, who, according to The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun, didn't really know what McDavid wanted in terms of an extension. The assumption, of course, was that it would include a pay raise. After all, McDavid had held the highest AAV of any player in the NHL from 2018 to 2023, when the Colorado Avalanche's Nathan MacKinnon got a deal worth $12.6 million per year, $100,000 more than McDavid. Auston Matthews then signed at a $13.25 million AAV, and Draisaitl got $14 million per year.
It would have been only logical for McDavid, who has recorded five consecutive 100-point seasons and hit 100 points eight times in the nine seasons since his rookie year, to break the cap hit record set by Draisaitl and then the Minnesota Wild's Kirill Kaprizov, even if he didn't plan to sign nearly as long a contract.
But that didn't happen. Instead, McDavid re-signed for two years at the $12.5 million AAV his last deal had.
“Which was actually a surprise to us,” Oilers CEO Jeff Jackson said, via LeBrun. “But that’s so on-brand for Connor.”
While it may not have been clear during negotiations what McDavid wanted, it became apparent what he wants by leaving millions on the proverbial table: to win.
After years of falling short in the Western Conference, McDavid and Edmonton made it to the Stanley Cup Final in 2024, when they stormed back from a 3-0 deficit in the series against the Florida Panthers to force Game 7. Unfortunately, the historic comeback could not be completed, and Florida won the game 2-1 and the series 4-3. Last year, the Oilers again lost to the Panthers in the SCF; this time, Edmonton dropped the series in six games after dropping Game 2 at home in double overtime and losing again at Rogers Place in Game 5.
The back-to-back disappointments are obviously a motivating factor for McDavid, and he's willing to forgo a pay raise — at least for now — to allow the Oilers to use the excess money to improve the roster. But that really puts the pressure on Jackson and Co. to make the most of this window before McDavid becomes a free agent.
“I think you’re always on the clock,” Jackson said. “That’s the way it is. That’s natural for that conclusion to be drawn. When I took the job two years ago, I said we have to be a very competitive team, with an opportunity to compete for the Cup, to make sure that we keep Connor and Leon (Draisaitl) and the core. So it’s no different.
“The number that Connor took for his cap hit — really, like, what were the options over one or two years? He’s not taking $12.5 million for an extended period of time. So it’s a decision he made in the short term so that we have three years at $12.5 million, and yeah, our goal is to continue to be a good team and be there at the end. His deal doesn’t change that. I don’t feel like we’re on the clock any more than we were on the clock two years ago, to be honest.”
