“I’ll take my time going through it with my family, my agent and everybody involved. We’re going through it slowly.”
This season will be McDavid’s 11th with Edmonton since it chose him with the No. 1 pick at the 2015 NHL Draft. He has 1,082 points (361 goals, 721 assists) in 712 regular-season games and 150 points (44 goals, 106 assists) in 96 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
“All options are on the table, really,” McDavid said. “We’re going through it. I don’t have a preference either way. I want to the group to be as focused and dialed in and ready to roll from Day 1 as much as possible, and we don’t need any distractions.
“I’m going to take my time with it and that’s it.”
McDavid has won the Hart Trophy as the League’s most valuable player three times (2017, 2020-21, 2022-23), the Ted Lindsay Award as most outstanding player as voted on by the NHLPA four times (2016-17, 2017-18, 2020-21, 2022-23) and the Art Ross Trophy as leading scorer five times (2016-17, 2017-18, 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23). He also won the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the playoffs in 2024 despite Edmonton losing to Florida in the Cup Final in seven games.
Jeff Jackson, McDavid’s former agent who is now Oilers CEO and president of hockey, and general manager Stan Bowman will be negotiating on behalf of Edmonton.
“Connor’s the best player in the League, the most important player in the League, he’s our captain, he’s our leader and certainly he’s a No. 1 priority,” Edmonton general manager Stan Bowman said July 20. “I think listening to Connor’s take on things, he’s earned the right for us to be respectful of his time.”
