The Edmonton Oilers greatly pleased their fans when it was recently announced Connor McDavid agreed to a contract extension with the team. McDavid is the heartbeat of an Oilers club that has lost back-to-back Stanley Cups. Oilers general manager Stan Bowman is giving some interesting details about what it was like to come to an agreement with McDavid.
“This is unique,” Bowman told reporters, per the Athletic. “It was really more of a dialogue and a conversation throughout the last few months and really nothing to do with the contract itself. Usually, when you have a negotiation, it’s more about back-and-forths on the term or the structure of the deal, but that was never talked about.”
McDavid agreed to a two-year extension with Edmonton. It carries an average annual value of $12.5 million, per the team. Many NHL analysts predicted McDavid would sign a deal worth even more, but Bowman said winning mattered more to the Oilers star forward.
“It’s not about the money for Connor,” Bowman added.
McDavid finished the 2024-25 season with 33 points in the playoffs. He tallied 100 points during the regular season, which was his fifth consecutive campaign with at least 100 points.
Oilers hope to finally get a Stanley Cup title again
The McDavid deal came with just days remaining before the start of the 2025-26 NHL season. McDavid is one of several players the Oilers were trying to re-sign this offseason.
“I obviously said I was committed to winning here and I meant that when I said that and two years makes a lot of sense,” McDavid said Tuesday, per NHL.com. “It gives us a chance to continue chasing down what we’ve been chasing down here with the core guys we have in here and we have a little bit of money to work with too. I think the deal makes sense to both sides.
“It gives us a chance to extend our window here in Edmonton. [My dog] Lenny is not going to go hungry with that money, so we'll be fine. It's about winning and that's always what I preached and I think this deal gives both sides what we're looking for.”
The Oilers star leads a team that has won the Western Conference finals two years in a row. Edmonton though has lost both times in the Stanley Cup Final to the Florida Panthers. Oilers fans hope this upcoming season is the year their club finally breaks through.
The Oilers begin the 2025-26 campaign on Wednesday, in a game against the Calgary Flames.
