The Edmonton Oilers’ future hangs in the balance. What happens if Connor McDavid doesn’t sign an extension? On today’s episode of Locked On Oilers, Nick Zararis breaks down why failing to extend the best player in the NHL would be an organizational disaster. We dive into potential trade packages, what kind of return Edmonton could even hope for, and the long-term implications of losing McDavid.
From the ripple effect on free agency to the psychological impact on the franchise, this episode explores every angle of the doomsday scenario. Featuring discussions on players like Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, Lane Hutson and more.
5:16 McDavid’s impact as best player in NHL
10:52 Exploring potential McDavid trade scenarios
16:29 Challenges of getting fair value for McDavid
21:33 Why superstars like McDavid are irreplaceable
26:41 Importance of extending McDavid for Oilers’ future
What If the Oilers Lose Connor McDavid? | McDavid Trade Scenarios + Edmonton’s Future Without Him
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25 Comments
The Rockies are Conner and Lauren 's backyard. The air is fresh. This king and queen of edmonton aren't going anywhere.
I believe he will walk they have not showed him a good team to win a cup
Who cares who's getting married Connor McDavid will leave Edmonton the only ones he cares about are his mom dad n his brother he doesn't care about his friends he can just make more friends wherever he goes
@26:58…they will burn Rogers Place down 😂🤦🏽♂️🤷🏽♂️
Comparing McDavid to Marner/Matthews continues to be a source of amusement.
It’s not clear just what the future of the Oilers is with Draisaitl, but no McDavid. Even with those two, the Oilers have yet towin a Stanley Cup.
The Raptors didn’t win their 2019 NBA championship just with Pascal Siakam, Fred Vanvleet, Marc Gasol or Chris Boucher, but with all of them and others. Relying too much on too few players isn’t a recipe for winning a Stanley Cup either.
This is throwing what ifs at the wall, hoping to get traction. Anyway, Connor like Leon are waiting for the management to make the moves that gives him confidence. Right now the only thing remaining is goaltending and they have moved on that in terms of changing the goalie coach. New goalie is going to be harder.
Edmonton let Gretzky go and Messier stepped forward and they won the Stanley Cup, so it contradicts your statements.
So far Bowman has been not great in orchestrating a path to continued success. He lost many key components this summer. He replaced them with three guys who are each 5'9" tall and have finesse-first play styles (not great for playoffs). Two of those guys are rookies and rookies usually have mediocre seasons. Bowman failed at adding a better goaltender. Every decent candidate rejected coming to the Oilers. Bowman definitely hasn't given McDavid any indication he's committed to winning now. If nothing changes and the Oilers don't perform as well as last season/last playoffs, it's reasonable to think McDavid will leave. If Bowman brings in Carter Hart and the Oilers have a decent playoff run in 2026, I think McDavid signs a bridge deal. Now… in that scenario, if I'm McDavid, I'd sign a one year bridge deal for my current salary, which would free up cap space to add key components in the 2026 offseason.
It’s not about whether he signs. He will.
It’s about term and to a lesser extent amount.
If he signs for 2 or 3 yrs then the odds of Mcd leaving after that are extremely high and the fan base will be in agony
This is just a what if situation, but, just imagine Connor McDavid leaves the Edmonton Oilers, then we end up winning the Stanley Cup next year. That would be such a crazy thing to happen to him. 😅
Listen. Connor has played a lot of hockey the past couple years. Give him a break and let him enjoy time with his wife and family. I truly believe Connor will be an oiler for life. In mcdavid we trust. Connors CUP YEAR
The only way a trade like this will work for the Oilers is trading him for a young franchise player like Connor Bedard as part of a package.
I kinda hope McDavid does leave and takes nurse with him. I think the Oilers window for winning is slammed shut as of now. They had 2 chances and they blew it both times, by staying with Skinner, management ensured another SCF loss. I doubt I'll be watching anymore Oilers games, they always start on a losing note then they have to scramble to catch up. Maybe they need to have a terrible season to actually hit the reset button. Just don't see them winning with who they have, too many wannabes and has beens imo.
If he goes he goes, it’s hard to top the pain of two back to back Stanley cup finals losses.
As they say “there is nothing more liberating than having your worst fears realized”
Very simple. If Edmonton loses Mcdavid, their dream of recaptureing the Stanley Cup will only become a dream.
If they lose him they are dumb
If they trade him they are smart
This crap belongs in a tabloid magazine at the supermarket. Get a life boys.
i mean it simple front office need to show mcdavid they could be winning team not 2 player team like mcdavid and leon cause it kinda show why they went to finals like soon or latter west is gonna find way to slow down those 2 and orilers not gonna be able to help them
also i feel this front office is still not helping them not enough like the fact you still letting skinner as guy again is crazy
If he goes anywhere it will be where he belongs. LEAFS NATION BABY!! GLG!
Mcdavid is gone. No way he sticks around knowing the oilers have no prospects (besides Lavoire and Howard) coming up. The team is in cap hell and they just lost Kane, Perry, Klingberg, Brown. They are stuck with Skinner and they have no cap money to get another goalie and they are the oldest team in the league. There is no upside for Mcdavid to stay. If he goes to Montreal, he will be surrounded with young superstars like Suzuki, Caufield, Slaf, Demidov, Dobson, Hutson that will contend for years
Connor’s best chance to win multiple cups lies in Montreal where they are building a future dynasty. Imagine Mcdavid with Suzuki, Caufield, Slaf, Demidov, Laine and anchored with Hutson, Dobson, Reinbacher, Guhle on the backend with tons of high end prospects in Laval like Fowler and Hage. It’s a recipe for success
Losing Mcdavid worst scenario for oilers
I just think Edmonton committed a critical mistake after they lost the first time to FL. They could have gone after Ullmark or Stolarz. , Montour & Oliver Ekman-Larsson . But they basically stayed the same.
If they could have gotten at least one of those goalies , kept Skinner as the #2 traded Pickard for Seth Jones from Chicago . They actually could have prevented FL from stacking their roster while winning the cup.
Life has funny ways to teach you something .
Edmonton’s last loss was not on McDavid or Leon . This was on their front office lack of vision/ planning to set Connor up for success.