Rumors about Connor McDavid taking his talents somewhere else have been effectively squashed following his decision to stay for two more years with the Edmonton Oilers. With Edmonton keeping McDavid beyond the 2025-26 NHL season, Toronto Maple Leafs star forward Auston Matthews, just like many others, had something to say about the big development on the side of the Oilers.
“Yeah, I mean, I think for him it's all about winning and setting himself up for the best opportunity to do that,” Matthews told reporters recently when asked for his reaction to McDavid's extension (h/t Leafslatest).
“Yeah, I mean, I don't really know, you know; I'm not like in those conversations or anything. Obviously I have a lot of respect for him, been fortunate to get to know him over the years. And I know that from my time around him that's the main thing that he obviously wants to do is what everyone wants to do is to win, and he's as committed as anybody to it.”
The three-time Hart Memorial Trophy winner signed a two-year, $25 million extension deal with the Oilers just before the start of the 2025-26 campaign. For most of the summer and the 2025 NHL offseason, Oilers fans grew anxious about McDavid's future with the team, as he only has a year left on his contract until he put pen to paper for the said extension.
And to Matthews' point, winning is indeed the main goal for McDavid. That McDavid accepted a relatively team-friendly extension with the Oilers speaks volumes about his burning desire to lead the Oilers back to the top of the NHL. His $12.5 million average annual value isn't even the most expensive on the team. That belongs to fellow Hart Memorial Trophy winner Leon Draisaitl, who carries a $14 million AAV up to the 2029-30 season.
Matthews has business to tend to as well, as he and the Maple Leafs will try anew to end Toronto's decades-long Stanley Cup drought.
The last time the Maple Leafs raised the Cup was in 1967. They have been to the NHL playoffs in each of the last nine seasons but failed to progress past the second round of the postseason during that stretch.
