NHL Rumors: Connor McDavid Just Needs to Decide When Contract Extensions Talks Begin

There won’t be much of negotiation when Connor McDavid decides it’s time to start negotiations

Bleacher Report Youtube: Frank Seravalli on Connor McDavid, who has one year left on his contract and is extension eligible. He doesn’t believe that numbers have been exchanged, and Seravalli takes a guess at what he thinks McDavid’s next contract could look like.

** NHLRumors.com transcription

“Let’s dive in, and let’s start with, well, maybe the story of the summer. And if it’s not the story of the summer, then it’s certainly going to be very shortly, and that is, we are about one month away from the opening of training camps and the best player in the world, Connor McDavid, does not have a contract extension with the Edmonton Oilers.

Ah, everyone, panic alarms sounding. People in Edmonton, Alberta are nervous. Should they be? I don’t think so. Look, my understanding here, just to give you a quick update, it’s been a very busy social summer for Connor McDavid, as everyone saw on social media. Overseas, in Europe, at best friend Leon Draisaitl’s wedding. We all saw this, the videos of him on jet ski’s with Leon Draisaitl. We saw Leon Draisaitl’s now-infamous photo that he posted of himself smoking a dart at his own wedding, which was chef’s kiss.

And yet Connor McDavid does not have a contract extension to stay with the Edmonton Oilers. Should people be nervous? Well, my understanding is that numbers haven’t even been exchanged yet.

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They’re still kind of very early on in the process, and yet there doesn’t seem to be any hint of nerves or panic or fear from either the Edmonton Oilers side, as best as I can tell, and also the McDavid side. That I’d expect in relatively short order here, whether it’s in the next week or two, that, that process will begin to ramp up.

And that, essentially, the way it’s been explained to me is the minute that Connor McDavid picks his head up off the pillow and decides that he would like to have a contract extension done, that’s the day that it’ll happen. It could be that quick, because there’s not really much of a negotiation here.

This is the best player in the world, naming his price. He’s going to slide a piece of paper to Stan Bowman and Jeff Jackson of the Edmonton Oilers and he’s going to say, this is what I’d like to be paid, and this is how I’d like to structure the contract. And they’re going to say, ‘yes, sir, yes, we’ll get it done for you immediately, and we’ll get it over for you to sign.’

That’s kind of the gist of where we’re at with Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers. So I don’t have any concerns that he’s going to be re-signing with the Oilers. The question, I believe, will be, for how long?

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I’m just, this is a pure spit ball, because I think even Connor McDavid and his camp don’t know the answer to this yet. But if I had to peg where I think this will ultimately land, I believe it will be somewhere between $16 and $17 and a half million a year on a four-year deal.

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It could be anywhere from two to eight. I don’t think that they’ve ruled out eight. And by the way, a subtle reminder for everyone with the new CBA kicking in, that this is the last year that you can sign a deal, as long as eight years. I don’t know that he’s terribly incentivized to do so. He’s going to be a very, very wealthy man regardless.

And four years might be the sweet spot here, as he looks into his crystal ball and sees just how many opportunities that this Edmonton Oiler core has a chance to go out and chase that very elusive Stanley Cup, as they’ve gotten pretty darn close two years in a row.”

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