The unselfish act of signing for less than market value to try to win reverberated around the League.
“For him it’s all about winning and setting himself up for the best opportunity to do that,” Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews said Tuesday. “In my time around him that’s the main thing he wants to do. It’s what everybody wants to do is to win, and he’s as committed as anybody.”
Widely considered the best offensive player in the NHL for the past 10 seasons, McDavid won’t be the highest paid player the next three seasons.
Teammate Leon Draisaitl is entering the first season of an eight-year, $112 million contract ($14 million AAV) he signed with Edmonton on Sept. 3, 2024. Minnesota Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov signed an eight-year, $136 million contract ($17 million AAV) last Tuesday that, like McDavid’s new contract, begins next season.
“Obviously we’re very excited,” Draisaitl said. “Every negotiation is its own project, is its own time, but for us as an organization, he’s the heart and soul of our group and our team. Getting the chance to chase it down for three more years at least is obviously amazing.”
To Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch, it was not out of character for McDavid to put the needs of the team ahead of his own. He became aware of McDavid’s leadership qualities when they were both with Erie of the Ontario Hockey League more than a decade ago.
“There was a lot of noise about what Connor wants to do, does he want to leave? And I think he obviously put a lot of thought into it,” Knoblauch said. “But his commitment is 100 percent to the Edmonton Oilers and the city of Edmonton. I think he’s put our team in a good situation to be successful and do the things we have to do to adjust our team. That says a lot about Connor.”
With McDavid signed, the Oilers can turn all their attention to the upcoming season, which they’ll begin against the Calgary Flames at home on Wednesday (10 p.m. ET; TVAS, SN).
McDavid wanted to announce his new contract before the puck dropped officially on the season.
“I think not wanting to be a distraction plays a factor,” McDavid said. “It’s a lot for guys to have to come in here and answer questions for other guys, the coach to get asked about it, the GM to get asked about it every day.
“It’s nice to get it out of the way. Nobody has to talk about it anymore. That obviously plays a factor, and then obviously myself not wanting to answer the question, and giving the Oilers some clarity on what’s going to go down.”
[SRC] https://www.nhl.com/news/connor-mcdavid-new-contract-with-edmonton-oilers-about-winning
