So, the second time definitely isn’t the charm for the Edmonton Oilers, but third…could be? Yes, by now everyone knows, the Edmonton Oilers came to the Stanley Cup finals for the second year in a row, and for the second year in a row were beaten by the indomitable Florida Panthers, despite Matthew Tkachuk not fully over his upper body injury and despite Brad Marchand being a fairly new trade before playoff season started, and despite defence man AJ Greer having been on a day to day injury recovery status building up to the final, Florida still did it, but what does that mean for Connor McDavid and his men?

Well, the rumours have been swirling that McDavid, one of the most coveted players in the game right now, and five time winner of the Art Ross trophy, four time winner of the Ted Lindsay Award and three time winner of the Hart memorial trophy might want to switch to another team after ten seasons of trying to win a Stanley Cup with the Oilers. And McDavid had tried so hard that he’s the only player in NHL history to have had 9 straight 90 point seasons and never won a Stanley Cup in a single one of them, so yes, the rumours are valid, and it seems like the Oilers have tried their best to put them, and any truth to them, to rest.

Money is the deciding factor here, in whether McDavid will stay or go, and it’s not really the worst situation for either party. McDavid is currently on a team that is nearly there, has victory almost in the palm of their hands, but needs something a bit more, and the Oilers need McDavid and could do without some of the other loose ends, so, the one thing that makes sense beside making use of the trade windows and free agency, etc. etc, is to look at what players with no trade clauses might be willing to work around the same.

First up, Viktor Arvidsson, perhaps the most cooperative of the team, who decided to waive his no-trade clause and move to the Boston Bruins. Arvidsson hadn’t managed to find his place on the Oilers, and the Bruins are currently in need of some support on the wings, so maybe this will work out for the best.

But not everybody was as easy to work with!

Darnell Nurse, who came to the Oilers in 2021 with an 8 year $74 million hasn’t really lived up to his end of things, and isn’t really planning on backing out of that deal either, so the Oilers are sort of stuck when it comes to this, and have also been slammed with having made one of the worst contract decisions in NHL history by a bunch of analysts at HockeyWriters.com. Adam Henrique is another bad deal for the Oilers. He hasn’t really been performing, but he isn’t going anywhere either.

But, it looks like whatever the Oilers managed to pull of, has somehow worked to their and McDavid’s benefit.

Rumours of Connor McDavid leaving have been shut down recently

Elliotte Friedman of the 32 Thoughts Podcast recently shut down the Connor McDavid exit rumours, saying, “I think I’ve been around long enough to know when there’s fear of losing someone. I don’t feel that here. I just don’t. We’ll see this goes during the summer. This is not one I’m worried about. I’m not. I think he extends.” And while this is not a definitive ‘no’, it is an expert opinion that we can choose to take or leave, but it is true that Edmonton seems to be trying to make McDavid happy, after all, he has given 10 solid years to the team.

Could the Oilers have made it to the playoff finals without McDavid? Well, considering McDavid led all players in the post season with 33 points, made of 7 goals and 26 assists in 22 games, then maybe the Oiler’s do desperately need him to recreate their performance, and do it better, next year.

But could McDavid have made it to the playoff finals without the Oilers? Not unless he’s on the Panthers, it seems like, as these are the two teams that have been dominating the post season for the past two years, and they both look pretty keen to keep it that way, additionally, the Panthers are functioning at a superior level on all lines at the moment, where would McDavid fit in, and how? Plus, with Brad Marchand, Sam Reinhart, and Matthew Tkachuk on their roster, do they have the money to rope McDavid in too?

Probably not, and that’s probably why he’ll extend.