Connor McDavid is staying in Edmonton, for now.
The 28-year-old face of the NHL signed a two-year extension with the Oilers on Monday with an AAV of $12.5 million. The deal matches his current cap hit for the 2025-26 season, the final year of his current contract.
McDavid seemingly followed through on his message to Oilers fans made in August, promising that he only had eyes for the team that drafted him first overall in 2015.
“I have every intention to win in Edmonton,” he told reporters at Hockey Canada’s National Teams Orientation Camp. “That’s my only focus.”
The superstar pivot’s new deal will see him tied to the club until the end of the 2027-28 season, where it seems he’ll potentially test free agency at age 31. He’ll be making $4.5 million less against the salary cap for the Oilers than Kirill Kaprizov will be for the Minnesota Wild after signing his record-breaking contract extension last week.
McDavid helped lead the Oilers to back-to-back Western Conference titles and Stanley Cup Finals appearances in 2024 and 2025, but ultimately, Edmonton fell in both championship series to the Florida Panthers. The majority of questions he has faced surrounding contract negotiations over the summer centered on the team’s ability to win its first Stanley Cup since 1990.
“Winning would be at the top of the list,” McDavid said in June shortly after suffering the most recent finals loss. “Winning – it’s the most important thing. If I feel that there’s a good window to win here, over and over again, then signing is no problem.”
The five-time Art Ross and three-time Hart Memorial Trophy winner finished the 2024-25 campaign with 100 points across 67 games, his lowest total since the Covid-shortened 2019-20 season (97 points). Since signing his current contract in 2018, McDavid has led the NHL in points (826) and assists (552).
