Up until now, Connor McDavid hadn’t really said the quiet part out loud.
But now, the Edmonton Oilers’ superstar, the best hockey player on the planet, a pending free agent, has opened the door.
When asked about his free agency over the weekend in a media scrum, McDavid used the words “no term” to describe one possible length of a contract he could be seeking to stay in Edmonton.
Here’s the full quote:
“All options are on the table. That would mean length of term, short term, long term, no term. It’s all options on the table, as I alluded to, so that would include a short-term deal, yeah.”
McDavid paused a second before saying no term, as if not sure whether to say it, or how to say it.
But he’s not ruling anything out.
The short-term deal, of two or three or four years instead of seven or eight, could allow McDavid to get another big contract once the salary cap rises in a few years.
But no term? Leaving the Oilers for elsewhere? That’d be a nightmare for Edmonton, which has lost in each of the past two Stanley Cup Finals.
McDavid will turn 29 years old in January, and he’s coming off an 100-point season in which he had 26 goals and 74 assists in just 67 games. In his career, he has played 712 games and put up 1,082 points, broken down between 36 goals and 721 assists.
McDavid has led the NHL in points in five separate seasons and in assists in four separate campaigns.
The Oilers need to keep him. They can’t afford a no-term contract with the NHL’s top player.
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