Oilers Superstar Deserves More Credit for Extension

Team First, Me Second

Not to launch in a socioeconomic diatribe, but Connor McDavid has such a specific case. The amount of money he’s leaving on the table is absurd, all because he’s putting the team first and helping the Oilers.

Let’s start with just how valuable the Oilers are in 2025. According to Sportico’s data, the average NHL franchise is worth $2.1 billion. The Oilers are worth an estimated value of $2.6 billion in their 2025 franchise valuations. That rise is a 15% increase in worth from their 2024 valuations.

Now, call me crazy, but McDavid is easily the biggest reason why this valuation has risen so drastically.

In return, the Oilers are paying McDavid $25 million over the two years of his extension. He keeps the same $12.5 million salary cap hit.

25 million is 0.91% of 2.76 billion.

That is not a typo or mathematical answer. The best player in the NHL and the entire world, who has helped raise the overall worth of the Edmonton Oilers over $2 billion since coming into the league, is compensated less than a percentage of said revenue expansion he is the major cause of. For reference, Forbes' NHL valuations from 2014 have the Oilers at an estimated value of $475 million.

Say what you want about the insane amounts of money NFL, NBA, MLB and professional soccer players make around the world, but they’ve at least figured out how to get a bigger slice of the pie.

Success Trumps All

At the end of the day, I don’t believe Connor McDavid cares too much about the larger socioeconomic picture and how his contract impacts it. Why should he? He’s made it clear that he just wants to win a Stanley Cup in Edmonton, and this extension of his gives the Oilers ample salary cap space and expanded flexibility to continue working toward that goal.

If it pays off, it will all be worth it for McDavid and his teammates. If they are lifting the Stanley Cup at the end of the season, the hometown discount won’t matter. It will quickly give way to the history they made and the dollars and cents of it all fade away.

Still, McDavid deserves unlimited credit for putting the negotiations and finances aside and getting a deal done that helps the Oilers so much more than it helps him.

I have to guess that the other shoe will drop when McDavid signs his next deal in 2028.