Former NHL player confident Connor McDavid will be a New York Ranger

We’re not quite at the point of discussing potential landing spots for Connor McDavid, but the noisier and worse things get in Edmonton, the closer we get to it—and those talks begin to reemerge.

Last offseason was full of them until McDavid put pen to paper to extend with the Oilers, and one team that came up more than once was the New York Rangers. It’s been quiet ever since, in large part due to their disastrous 2025-26 season. However, former Ranger Sean Avery appears to still be quite confident that the best player in the world will be headed to the Big Apple in two years’ time.

Avery said during an appearance on The Adam Friedland Show:

“It’s the McDavid kid, he’s McJesus. He’s so good. No, but he’s going to have to be, because he’s going to sign with the Rangers in two years. Yep,”

Greg Wyshynski of ESPN found it rather noteworthy to hear such comments from a former Ranger still in tune with the organization.

“I want to point out something—so Sean Avery was on The Adam Friedland Show. Sean Avery, in that interview, said with some level of confidence and authority that I didn’t anticipate hearing, that Connor McDavid would be a Ranger when his contract is up. Now, I think there has been speculation to that end, but I just found it to be interesting that Avery was so emphatic about it. I was sort of startled by how matter-of-fact it was, by a guy who still has some tentacles into the MSG universe,”

The 29-year-old McDavid starts his two-year, $25 million extension with the Oilers next year (2026-27) and will be eligible to hit free agency following the 2027-28 season.