Connor McDavid just proved something to the NHL when he signed his two-year, $25 million extension on Monday: He's loyal to the franchise that drafted him. Following the massive Kirill Kaprizov deal, which saw the Minnesota Wild star ink a massive eight-year, $136 million extension to stay in St. Paul, surely it meant McDavid was in line for even more.
But that wasn't the case, with McDavid going the team-friendly route. Not only did he decide to stick around Edmonton, but McDavid was more than fine taking a short-term deal at an AAV that was modest for a player of his caliber.
If you were building a one-year team in 2025-26 and could pick anyone to lead that team, McDavid would be the likely choice, not Kaprizov. So it shows that McDavid signed a deal that was substantially lower than his worth. He was thinking of putting the team in the best possible position to keep adding and retaining pieces that would, ultimately, land the Oilers their first Stanley Cup since 1990.
Connor McDavid just challenged other NHL stars
The 2026 free agent class got a little smaller with McDavid staying in Edmonton, but it challenges stars like Jack Eichel, Jason Robertson, and Kyle Connor to take team-friendly deals to try and bring a Cup to, or back to, their respective franchises.
McDavid didn't need to issue this challenge with words. Him signing his name on the dotted line says it all. He could have looked at the Kaprizov deal and said, "I want more money than what he just got." And while that might have irked some Oilers fans, nobody could have blamed McDavid for demanding a massive payday.
Some might even think McDavid should have played out the final year of his contract and put pressure on the Oilers if they didn't win a Cup in 2026. That would have opened the doors for just about every star player eligible to sign an extension to demand a top dollar amount, and it would have been a good chance that bidding wars would have emerged all over the league if they entered free agency.
Things are about to get very interesting for the NHL, regardless
You will find fans of teams that have star players due to re-sign in 2026, 2027, and 2028, compare what they're reportedly demanding to what McDavid just signed on for. Arguably NHL's best player signed a deal he could have passed up until he set a new record for a cap hit.
Because he didn't look for lengthy discussions to occur between players, agents, and NHL front offices, and look for the fans to voice their opinions and takes if anyone is bold enough to hold out.
Still, between now and when McDavid is due for his next extension, Oilers fans no longer need to worry. They can watch their team get another step closer to hoisting Lord Stanley's Cup while the rest of the league scrambles to make their star players happy, while simultaneously looking to build a real championship contender.