The NHL salary cap is set to rise precipitously. Connor McDavid is still 28 years old, and he is Connor McDavid. The Edmonton Oilers, as a team and as a business, rely heavily on their continued employment of Connor McDavid. So it was easy, when extension talks neared an agreement, to imagine some insane numbers. The max eight years for certain, and an AAV that starts with a "20" and ends in "million" seemed likely.
The actual extension, agreed to Monday, is ... shockingly very much not that.
THE CAPTAIN 🫡
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) October 6, 2025
The #Oilers have signed forward Connor McDavid to a two-year contract extension with an AAV of $12.5 million! pic.twitter.com/UYpGe4NKkx
Barring the existence and machinations of an Uncle Dennis McDavid, the short term and criminally low salary make crystal-clear what this contract represents. The Oilers, two-time Cup Final losers, have a window, and McDavid wants to see that window through to its closing.
He is taking significantly less money to let the team afford complementary pieces (like Jake Walman)—a thing fans talk about often but which actually happens rarely. But he is also not hitching his wagon to a rebuild. The deal covers the two seasons after this one, his expiring year, so Edmonton has three years to win a Cup. If things go downhill, it's hard to picture McDavid in blue and orange after that.
The NHLPA can't be thrilled with this—after Kirill Kaprizov raised the bar to $17 million per season last week, McDavid could have snapped it in two—but it makes some sense for him. He seems to like Edmonton, as a city and as an organization; they treat him well. It's not for a lack of trying that they can't find a goalie. And, realistically, there aren't any teams as close to a championship with the cap space to afford him; the Oilers are his best shot at a Cup over the next couple of years. Don't laugh. But, three years from now, he'll still be 31 years old—young enough that he'll get a max seven- or eight-year deal to take him into his twilight seasons.
For that immediate chance to win, and the freedom to avoid being trapped in a rebuild with a difficult-to-trade contract, he'll take Moses Moody money. McDavid offered the Oilers a stunning discount. They have three years to take advantage of it.
