The start of the 2025-26 NHL season is less than two months away, but one of the biggest hockey-related talking points is one that won’t take affect until next offseason — a new contract for Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid.
McDavid is heading into the final season of an eight-year, $100 million contract he signed as a 22-year-old, which served as an extension to his original rookie deal. And if he hasn’t struck a new one by the time free agency opens up at noon ET on July 1, 2026, he will be an unrestricted free agent, allowing him to sign with any team in the league.
The most likely end result, according to NHL insider Frank Seravalli, doesn’t even reach that point, with McDavid remaining in Edmonton for the foreseeable future.
“He’s not going anywhere,” Seravalli said during a Bleacher Report Insiders Notebook livestream. “I think there’s a small chance that we get to a month from now, and camp’s about to open, and McDavid still doesn’t have a deal done.
“That’s when the conversation begins to percolate a lot more. That’s when it becomes a real talking point. That’s when the Oilers are probably going to have some real leverage to try and get it done. Because I don’t think Connor McDavid’s going to want to open up camp answering a lot of these questions, although it’s pretty clear he’s going to do it on his own timeline.”
But in the small chance both sides fail to reach an agreement on a new contract, a number of teams — including the Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs and Chicago Blackhawks — could aggressively chase McDavid’s signature in free agency, Seravalli said.
“Just think big-market. Think LA, New York, Toronto, Chicago… like, big, big markets that would have a player of that ilk,” Seravalli said. “Could you imagine dropping Connor McDavid into Manhattan with the Rangers? Or Toronto, going home? Those are the types of things that, I’m sure, hockey fans around the league are thinking about — getting the best player in the world into a big market.”
It’s weird to think of McDavid wearing anything other than a blue-and-orange jersey for rest of his career, but it wouldn’t be the first time a generational talent has moved on from Edmonton. Wayne Gretzky, the “Great One,” did exactly that after being acquired by the Kings in a blockbuster deal that took place on Aug. 9, 1988, and would be forever known as “The Trade.”
