Rumour Roundup: Could Oilers’ McDavid sign short-term extension?

It’s a quick turnaround from focusing on the Stanley Cup to off-season contract talk. And, of course, the last two teams in pursuit of a championship are now making a sharp pivot to questions about new deals for star players.

And, in one case, the league’s biggest star player.

Connor McDavid triggered a lot of chatter on Thursday while speaking at the Edmonton Oilers’ year-end press conference. It’s not so much what McDavid — who is eligible to ink a contract extension on July 1 — said as what he didn’t say, which was something along the lines of “Edmonton is the only place I’ve played and the only place I want to play.”

Anything less than that was bound to create a burst of speculation about the odds McDavid would ever leave Edmonton as an unrestricted free agent. Tackling the topic on the latest edition of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman floated a theory that formed in his head after seeing McDavid’s public stance.

“I wonder if McDavid goes short term,” Friedman offered. “That is purely my opinion. I wonder if he signs for a couple years, only a few years. He’s going to be 29 in January; what if he extends for two years, then he can sign again at 31? That means his commitment to Edmonton, [through a potential two-year deal], is 13 years [since being drafted in 2015]. And what it does also is it says, ‘Hey, I’m’ here, but I don’t let anyone get complacent.’ If I was in his shoes, I would consider that.

“If you told me this was not going to end up [as an eight-year deal] and was going to be much shorter [term] than eight, after that press conference, I could see it.”

Friedman said more than once he does not believe McDavid is eager to leave Northern Alberta. But the reality of losing two straight Stanley Cup Finals to the Florida Panthers obviously keeps everyone on edge and No. 97 — who said winning is, by far, his top priority when considering next career moves — might be doing what he can to make sure everybody in the organization is completely dialed in and exploring every possible avenue to get better.

“They gave [Stuart] Skinner another shot [in goal],” Friedman noted. “I don’t know if they’re going to bring in another goalie to go with Skinner or they’re going to move on, but one thing I do believe is that they have to end the uncertainty. Teams that win the Stanley Cup don’t have as much turnover or upheaval in net the way Edmonton has had the last two years and I can see McDavid and the organization saying, enough of that.”

Of course, it’s easy for the victorious Panthers to have a sunnier disposition after winning their second straight Cup. As numerous social media feeds will attest to, the Cats are most definitely enjoying their extended time with the Cup. That team, though, has big contract questions that will come to a head long before McDavid’s.

Three major contributors — Conn Smythe winner Sam Bennett, ace deadline acquisition Brad Marchand and career Panther Aaron Ekblad — are all now a little over a week away from hitting the open market as UFAs should they chose that route.

While the club has an established history of being able to keep key players in the fold, Friedman thinks retaining all three will be tough.

“I would not underestimate the Panthers, but I have to think two out of three is more likely,” he said.

Ultimately, Friedman says the deal Panther Carter Verhaeghe inked last October — an eight-year pact with an annual cap hit of $7 million — serves as a solid template for a deal that will likely get done with Bennett in Florida.

As for Marchand, the three-year, $24-million contract he was likely in line for before a strong Final may only be getting bigger. “He did nothing in the Stanley Cup Final to hurt his worth,” said Friedman, noting the Panthers and player could tweak the term to try and get Marchand all his money without driving the AAV up too much.

If he doesn’t get something done in Florida?

“I think Utah is in there, I think Toronto is going to be in there and there are going to be other teams there as well,” Friedman said, before saying the biggest factor in Ekblad’s next deal could be the oft-injured player’s desire for a lengthy term.

Latest on Stars

As for the team making the most actual moves so far, Friedman weighed in on the Dallas Stars’ new pact with Matt Duchene and the directly related decision to trade winger Mason Marchment to the Seattle Kraken on Thursday.

Friedman noted a few teams — specifically the Vancouver Canucks — were surely disappointed in the fact Duchene, as one of the few high-end centres potentially available via free agency or a trade, did not make it to the open market. Ultimately, Dallas’ willingness to go to a four-year term at the relatively low AAV of $4.5 million allowed all parties to get what they were after.

As for Marchment — who accounted for the same $4.5 AVV the Stars just inked Duchene to — Friedman understood there might some fan bases around the league who wondered why their team didn’t jump the way Seattle did, given all it cost the Kraken was third- and fourth-round picks to get the rugged, middle-six winger. One consideration Friedman flagged, though, was Dallas GM Jim Nill’s desire to do right by a player he inked to a big UFA deal in 2022 and send him to a state, Washington, with a tax structure similar to the friendly one in Texas.

Finally, it’s easy to forget this Dallas club that’s been to three straight Western Conference Finals needs a new bench boss after firing Pete DeBoer. Friedman believes the Stars will now pivot to interviewing some external candidates and offered up the name of somebody who was actually the team’s bench boss for a couple seasons at the beginning of the 2010s.

“I still wonder about [Glen] Gulutzan,” he said of the man who was also a head coach in Calgary before serving as an assistant in Edmonton since 2018.

More from Sportsnet

Cup contention key to McDavid’s future with Oilers: ‘It’s all about winning’

Oilers’ Connor McDavid on contract talks: ‘No rush’