Oilers' Connor McDavid Loves Seeing Players Taking Control Across NHL
Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid is a big fan of seeing players around the league take control of their futures.
"You know, it's been a long time coming for our league, to see some of those numbers. Good on those guys for pushing for that. You're slowly starting to see some player ownership in terms of things."
With the 2026-27 season around the corner, player reps for each team are in Vegas for a few days to catch up with the media, and McDavid turned some heads with his comments on the opening day. McDavid opened up about the recent mega-extensions handed out around the league, and even chimed in on the several trade requests being made by some big-name players.
"I was thinking: That's a lot of money. That's a lot of money that they all signed for, and deservedly so," McDavid said when asked how he'd reacted to the flurry of lucrative contracts, per Sportsnet's Luke Fox.
"You know, it's been a long time coming for our league, to see some of those numbers. Good on those guys for pushing for that. You're slowly starting to see some player ownership in terms of things."
McDavid inked a two-year extension last year with the Oilers, but didn't hold them hostage on his AAV, allowing for some more flexibility moving forward for their GM. The same situation just happened in San Jose with Macklin Celebrini, and we've seen Sidney Crosby make $8.7 million AAV for two decades.
While McDavid loves what he's seeing around the league, all eyes are on how Mike Babcock fares behind an NHL bench, as he's already lasted longer in Edmonton than he did in Columbus.