The Edmonton Oilers and their fans can breathe a collective sigh of relief with the news on Monday that they were able to extend superstar Connor McDavid past this season when he was set to be a free agent. However, the final result ended up being better than anyone could have imagined and it is due to the player's commitment to the franchise and bringing a Stanley Cup to Edmonton.
A player of McDavid's caliber can almost demand whatever kind of contract he wants and the Oilers probably would have matched it. However, McDavid more than anything wants to win a Stanley Cup after getting to the Stanley Cup Final in back-to-back seasons. The Oilers have been close as they pushed the Florida Panthers to a Game 7 and Game 6, respectively.
Connor McDavid's hometown discount gives the Edmonton Oilers the flexibility needed to build an elite roster
As great it would have been to see McDavid sign a max-term deal, the two extra seasons the Oilers now have hopefully will be enough to help secure that Stanley Cup. What will be different over those two seasons is that they will now extra cap space to spend to bring in help for McDavid.
Next season, the salary cap is expected to go up to $104 million and then to $113 million in 2027-28 which means the $12.5 million AAV is only 12 percent and 11 percent of the total salary cap. After Kirill Kaprizov just signed a new contract that had an AAV of $17 million gives the Oilers almost $10 million in cap space over that time frame to add more talent to this roster.
Pressure will be on the Edmonton Oilers to deliver on Connor McDavid's gift to the franchise
As much as the Oilers would like to sit back and relax knowing they got an extension done with McDavid, it is almost like they are under more pressure. They can't afford to sit back and relax but must continue to be aggressive in building a talented roster around their superstar.
The Oilers certainly tried to do that as shortly after signing McDavid to his extension, they agreed to a seven-year deal with defenseman Jake Walman.
The challenge, and where the Oilers are going to have to get creative, is that they don't have much cap space for this season. They certainly will need to be looking at the trade market but how they approach it is very different because it is no longer just players who can help this season but the next two with the window opened more because of McDavid's extension.
Connor McDavid's agreeing to the contract he did shows his commitment to not only the Oilers but also winning a Stanley Cup. It is now on the franchise to help him get in a position to accomplish it.