‘I don’t like talking about hypotheticals’: GM Stan Bowman shoots down thought of McDavid leaving Oilers

As Edmonton Oilers brass continue to preach patience when it comes to the status of Connor McDavid’s contract extension, general manager Stan Bowman shot down any idea of the superstar leaving the team.

Bowman was on TSN Overdrive Thursday, where he fielded a litany of questions about McDavid. While he banged the continual drum about respecting and understanding that the Oilers captain was taking his time, he was tense when asked about McDavid playing for another team.

Bryan Hayes: If it got to a point where he decided he wanted to leave Edmonton, would you expect him to give you guys a heads up on that decision?

Bowman: I don’t like talking about hypotheticals. I get the question, but I don’t think there’s value. There’s a million different ‘what ifs’ that people could throw our way. I think that’s not really a productive discussion. I love having him on our team here, I know he’s dedicated. Just to quote what he said, there’s nothing he wants more than to win the Cup in Edmonton. I think that’s what we’re all focused on right now, heading into next week and looking forward to seeing camp start up.

The idea of McDavid leaving Edmonton has, and will only grow more, the longer that he goes unsigned. And while much of that noise will come from a certain Eastern Conference team’s fanbase convinced McDavid’s “coming home,” Bowman downplayed the amount of outside noise rattling headlines across the hockey world and it’s potential to be a distraction.

We live in 2025, where these things are talked about all the time. I think maybe 30 years ago, the media interactions with the players and the fans was different. But now that we’re in the age of social media and everything gets talked about every day, I think you’re right: there’s going to be questions, and I know that. I’m sure Connor is aware of that, too.

I think we do want to focus on the season. There’s a lot of exciting things to look forward to for this year. It’s a fair question. I don’t want it to be a distraction either. I know Connor indicated he doesn’t. But we don’t control what people talk about, and I understand the interest level of the fans and the media. That’s something that I think is just going to play out over the next little bit here, and we’ll just have to take with what comes our way.

With training camp kicking off next Wednesday, the temperature is only going to rise and the Oilers can’t afford another slow start to the season.