October 8, 2025 by Eric Friesen

After months of speculation regarding his future, Connor McDavid officially signed a two-year contract extension worth $25 million with the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.

With one stroke of a pen, the greatest offensive player of the 21st century committed to playing the first 13 seasons of his illustrious NHL career in Edmonton. It came nine years to the day after McDavid donned the ‘C’ for the Oilers for the first time in an exhibition game at Rogers Place.

McDavid, who still has one year remaining on an eight-year, $100 million deal with the Oilers, could have signed for as much as $19.1 million annually under the current salary cap system. However, McDavid stunned the hockey world by deciding to not even take a raise on the $12.5 million salary he’s earned since 2018-19.

“Of course, everything was on the table,” McDavid told the media after practice at Rogers Place on Tuesday. “That’s the point of being in that situation. You have your options. But ultimately, our hearts are here in Edmonton. Our hearts are here with the core guys and with the guys in this room.”

Despite taking longer to sign than fans in Oil Country would have preferred, all signs pointed to McDavid reupping with the two-time defending Western Conference champions and the only NHL franchise he’s ever known. McDavid is extremely close with longtime teammates Leon Draisaitl and Darnell Nurse, his former agent Jeff Jackson was hired as the Oilers’ CEO and President of Hockey Operations in August of 2023, and his former junior hockey coach Kris Knoblauch took over behind Edmonton’s bench a few months later.

But above all else, McDavid needs to deliver a Stanley Cup to the place where he started his NHL career for many hockey observers to view him in the same class as other generational talents like Bobby Orr, Guy Lafleur, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby. Winning Lord Stanley’s mug in a 32-team league with a hard salary cap and snapping Canada’s 33-year Cup drought (or more importantly Edmonton’s 36-year drought), would solidify McDavid’s legacy as one of the greatest players in NHL history.

Related: McDavid extension puts the Oilers in a great team-building position

“Obviously, the city and the fans are important to us, and we want to win here,” said McDavid. “We want to bring [the Stanley Cup] back here and make our city proud. But mostly, for the guys in this room, we’ve been through a lot together, and seeing it through together is important.”

Simply put, McDavid should be the first-ever maximum contract player in the salary cap era. If there was no limit on how much a player could earn, almost every team across the league would gladly pay him $25 million per season. Instead, he’ll be making that amount over a span of two seasons – half of what he genuinely deserves as the undisputed best hockey player in the world.

By signing for significantly under his market value, McDavid is leaving General Manager Stan Bowman with the flexibility to add more impact players to an already championship-calibre team. Per puckpedia.com, the Oilers have approximately $82.1 million in commitments to 14 players for next season.

With the NHL’s salary cap upper limit set to increase to $104 million for the 2026-27 season, Bowman will have just under $22 million to improve the Oilers’ roster in the summer of 2026. While McDavid’s selflessness will certainly allow Bowman to surround him with other high-end talent, the three-time Cup-winning GM insists that he’s been just as aggressive in trying to upgrade the team since the day he joined the organization 14 months ago.

Related: Potential McDavid Milestones for 2025-26

“Well, I think nothing’s changed,” Bowman told the media via a video conference call on Monday. “That’s the way this has been since the day I started here. We all have the same belief, which is the reason I came here, because I believe we can win, and I want to win, and that’s what motivates me to do this, and I know that’s what motivates Connor. So nothing changes.”

A decade into his future Hockey Hall of Fame career, McDavid has amassed five Art Ross Trophies, three Hart Memorial Trophies, four Ted Lindsay Awards, one Conn Smythe Trophy and eight 100-point seasons. Only one other player in the history of the game has achieved this by age 28, and there’s a bronzed statue of him standing outside of Rogers Place.

That’s where McDavid is headed. I’m certain that there will eventually be statue of McDavid right next to Gretzky’s in downtown Edmonton (hopefully, with the Cup hoisted above his head like The Great One’s). From a personal standpoint, he’s achieved virtually everything there is to do in the NHL. However, McDavid has never been driven by individual success. But as the most dominant offensive player of his generation, putting up incredible points totals and filling his trophy case is the best way he can help his team win.

Following consecutive losses to the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final, McDavid appears more motivated than ever to get his hands on the Cup eight months from now. Still, there’s a long way to go before that can happen, and no Western Conference team has made three consecutive Stanley Cup Final appearances since the Oilers from 1983 through 1985, winning it all twice. While it will be a daunting task to make it back to a third straight Final, the Oilers are firmly in their Stanley Cup window, and are projected by several public analytics models to be one of the best teams in the league again this season.

Related: There’s still a lot of time for McDavid’s legacy to be written

Signing a two-year extension doesn’t mean the clock is ticking on McDavid’s time in Edmonton. If the Oilers continue to contend for the Cup year after year, then I believe McDavid will sign another extension in the Alberta capital in 2027. But, for now, he’s committed for the next two years, and is doing everything he possibly can on and off the ice to give this team the best chance to finally capture hockey’s ultimate prize.

“I said I was committed to winning here, and I meant that,” said McDavid. “Two years makes a lot of sense. It gives us a chance to continue chasing down what we’ve been chasing here with the core guys that have been here, and a little bit of money to work with, too. So I think the deal makes sense for both sides.”