McDavid will 'take my time' to decide Oilers future in final season of contract

CALGARY -- Connor McDavid’s stance on a new contract with the Edmonton Oilers remains the same as the 2025-26 season approaches.

So do his goals.

The Oilers captain said Wednesday he still wants to take his time to ponder his future heading into the final season of his current contract, but has “every intention to win in Edmonton.”

“I said at the end of June I had every intention to take my time with it and I still feel the same way,” McDavid said at the Hockey Canada Orientation Camp for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026. “I’ll take my time and go through everything. I have every intention to win in Edmonton. It’s my only focus, maybe next to winning a gold medal with Canada.

“I’ll take my time going through it with my family, my agent and everybody involved. We're going through it slowly.”

McDavid signed an eight-year, $100 million contract ($12.5 million average annual value) with Edmonton on July 5, 2017, and can become an unrestricted free agent July 1, 2026.

On June 19, two days after the Oilers lost to the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final for the second consecutive season, McDavid said he did not have a timeline to sign a new contract with Edmonton, even though he was eligible to do so starting July 1.

The same holds true with Edmonton set to open training camp Sept. 17 and open the regular season against the Calgary Flames at Rogers Place on Oct. 8.

“All options are on the table, really,” McDavid said. “We’re going through it. I don't have a preference either way. I want to the group to be as focused and dialed in and ready to roll from Day 1 as much as possible, and we don't need any distractions.

“I’m going to take my time with it and that's it.”

Jeff Jackson, McDavid's former agent who is now the Oilers CEO and president of hockey, and general manager Stan Bowman will be negotiating on behalf of Edmonton.

McDavid is expected to sign for the largest AAV in NHL history in his next contract.

“It's not going to be a long negotiation,” Jackson told “The Sheet” on Daily Faceoff on Monday. “I think that it’ll be unlike any other negotiation, because it’s not really, and I think when Connor is ready, we’ll have the discussion, and we’ll get a deal done.”

McDavid is entering his 11th season with Edmonton. The 28-year-old had 100 points (26 goals, 74 assists) in 67 games last season and 33 points (seven goals, 26 assists) in 22 Stanley Cup Playoff games. The Oilers lost the Cup Final in six games to the Florida Panthers, one year after losing to them in seven games.

The No. 1 pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, McDavid is a three-time Hart Trophy winner voted as the League's most valuable player (2017, 2021, 2023) and a four-time Ted Lindsay Award winner as the most outstanding player voted on by his peers (2017, 2018, 2021, 2023). He won the Art Ross Trophy as NHL top scorer five times (2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023) and the 2023 Rocket Richard Trophy as top goal-scorer.

McDavid was voted the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as MVP of the 2024 playoffs. He has eight seasons of at least 100 points and is the fourth-fastest player to 1,000 points (659 games), behind Wayne Gretzky (424), Mario Lemieux (513) and Mike Bossy (656).

Barring injury, McDavid is expected to play in his first Olympic Games for Canada. NHL players have not participated in the Winter Olympics since Sochi in 2014.

He scored 8:18 into overtime to help Canada defeat the United States 3-2 in the championship game of the 4 Nations Face-Off on Feb. 20.

“I think even just this week being with the Olympic women’s team and the Para team, you just have a feeling of being part of something that’s bigger than just your club team, being part of the Oilers or Pittsburgh or Florida,” McDavid said in a media conference beside Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby and Panthers forward Sam Reinhart. “It’s so much bigger than that, it unites the country, like the 4 Nations, that type of feeling, playing hockey at the absolute highest level.

“I know for myself, the hockey at the 4 Nations was the fastest, tightest-checking, most difficult hockey I’ve ever been a part of, so I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like at the Olympics and at that next level. That’s what ultimately everybody wants is sport at the highest level, that’s what the Olympics is all about and that’s what we’re looking forward to be part.”

Canada won gold at the past two Olympics featuring NHL players -- at the 2014 Sochi Olympics and the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Finland won gold at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, which did not feature NHL players.

McDavid is looking forward to representing his country in Milano Cortina and wants to be at his best when the tournament begins for Canada against Czechia on Feb. 12.

Whether he will have a new contract in hand with the Oilers remains to be seen.

“That’s the first thing that came to my mind is you want to peak a little earlier in the season,” McDavid said. “Your team game, you want to be peaking in the playoffs, well, us guys as individuals, you want to peak at that time, and come together and have your best foot forward for the Olympics and what we’re ultimately after is to win a gold medal.”