Oilers aren’t entertaining idea of McDavid leaving organization: ‘We’re focused on right now’

We’re less than one week away from the Edmonton Oilers starting their regular season, and Connor McDavid doesn’t have a contract extension signed.

Next Wednesday’s season-opener is significant, as after it, there are few hard dates either side could enforce in terms of getting an extension done for the pending unrestricted free agent.

While McDavid and his camp continue to take his time with the process, Oilers general manager Stan Bowman said Wednesday that talks between the two sides remain strong.

“Very positive conversations, all of them have been,”  said Bowman. “I can’t add perspective from what’s on their side, I can just say we’re ready and excited to have Connor here, and he looks excellent.

“I think we looked in rare form the other night, which is good to see him and Leon finding some chemistry with Freddie. That was nice to see.”

But when pressed about the idea of McDavid leaving the Oilers organization, it was something Bowman wasn’t ready to entertain.

“There’s certain things that are in your control and out of your control,” he said. “So we’re just focused on not getting way ahead of ourselves. That type of question is way down the road.

“So now all we’re focused on is right now and the next couple of days here, getting ready for the start of the season and continuing our dialogue with Connor and (agent) Judd (Moldaver), and we’re going to keep doing that. So I don’t want to get too far ahead of it. I find it’s best to stay in the moment, not getting down the road.”

The slow approach to negotiations from McDavid’s side has left Oil Country in a state of flux, as the captain continues to evaluate the long-term health of the organization. An aging roster has been McDavid’s top concern, though the organization has worked to address this with acquisitions of Matt Savoie and Ike Howard over the last two summers, as well as an influx of European talent in Josh Samanski, David Tomasek and Arto Leppanen, all who have impressed this pre-season.

Rumours have swirled about McDavid potentially utilizing deferred money to lower his cap hit, though Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman wasn’t so convinced when he spoke with 880 CHED’s Bob Stauffer on Tuesday.

What Friedman did believe, however, is that McDavid could be taking less money on a shorter-term deal, with the previous two losses having “bothered him so much.”

“I think the number will be lower than people think. I believe it could be lower than 16, it wouldn’t surprise me,” he said.  “To me, what this is all about is that McDavid wants to win so bad. The two losses the last two years have bothered him so much, I think this is his way of making sure the Oilers know how much winning matters to him.

“In case you’re not 100% certain that he is completely consumed with winning, he’s making things a little bit uncomfortable just to make sure everybody’s aware of it.”

Either way, the ball is in McDavid’s court.