Oilers Should Worry About Connor McDavid Extension

Beginning on July 1st, the Edmonton Oilers and superstar captain Connor McDavid could negotiate and agree to a contract extension. McDavid, the undisputed top player in the NHL, is entering the final season his current deal with the Oilers. It’s been nearly a month since the window opened, but there’s been radio silence from both parties about any possible extension.

If the Oilers didn’t feel a sense of urgency or panic before, they absolutely should now. The Oilers’ General Manager Stan Bowman said at the beginning of free agency that they would be ready to talk “whenever they’re ready.”

Why does McDavid not feel ready yet?

That has to be a bothersome question for the Oilers to reckon with. Could it be the usual progression of a contract negotiation? That possibility exists. Whatever and wherever McDavid signs, it will be the most expensive contract in NHL history. That doesn’t come together rapidly or without careful consideration.

However, McDavid has been the best player in the NHL for years now. He’s been with Edmonton the duration of his career. They’ve been to back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals. The Oilers, unless they’ve been blissfully oblivious to the future, should have been preparing for this coming contract.

They even laid out a blueprint to follow with Leon Draisaitl’s extension. Last summer, he signed an eight-year extension that pays him an average annual value of $14 million.

It doesn’t seem that difficult from the outside. Pay McDavid more than $15 million per season over the next eight years. Make him the highest paid player per season in the league, a title he’s earned and deserves. If he wants a no-movement clause or any other guarantees, the Oilers should be eager to include them. How far apart can the two sides be?

If you’re McDavid, are the past two seasons weighing more heavily on you? Sure, they’ve run through the Western Conference in two consecutive postseasons, but they cannot get over the hump in the Finals. It’s fair to speculate that the organization is not going in the direction McDavid wants to follow.

Whatever the holdup is, it doesn’t really matter. With every passing day no deal is signed, the panic should rise in Edmonton. It won’t stop until Connor McDavid puts pen to paper on a new contract.