Bring up Connor McDavid’s contract around any hockey fan right now and watch the temperature in the room change. The Edmonton Oilers’ biggest name still hasn’t agreed to a new deal, and suddenly everyone– not just diehard NHL fans– wants to know what’s the holdup.
When talk about a player’s future goes from the locker room out onto the floor of Parliament, you know something unusual is brewing. So, will McDavid stay or go, and just how wild has this saga become?
Will Connor McDavid Stay in Edmonton, and Why Is the Prime Minister Weighing In?
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has officially entered the chat on Connor McDavid’s future, showing how big this story has become in Canada and beyond.
Addressing the Liberal Caucus in Edmonton on Wednesday, Carney cracked a joke, lumping McDavid’s unsigned contract in with Canada’s other challenges. After talking about tough global issues, the room clued in fast when Carney paused and hit them with: “McDavid is unsigned.”
“We are in a crisis, the global trading system has been upended, supply chains have been destroyed, McDavid is unsigned.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney started his caucus in Edmonton by talking about … the McDavid contract. pic.twitter.com/qwtyTmJ3Fd
— Courtney Theriault (@cspotweet) September 10, 2025
The moment got laughs, but beneath the humor, the prime minister– an Oilers fan through and through– made it clear he wants Edmonton’s captain locked in for years to come.
He later added that if there was “anything we can do in the upcoming budget,” he would make sure the team had what it needed to bring the Stanley Cup back to Canada.
The prime minister’s lighthearted comment on Connor McDavid’s contract situation shows how wildly this narrative has outgrown Edmonton or even hockey. If Carney’s weighing in from Parliament Hill, it’s officially bigger than the sport itself.
What Is Keeping Connor McDavid From Signing an Oilers Extension?
Now McDavid, who is 28 years old, is heading into the final stretch of the eight-year, $100 million deal he signed in 2017. He has always been devoted to the Oilers, but there’s no new extension just yet. That gap has only fueled talk about whether he’s eyeing short-term deals or even thinking about other teams, with everyone from insiders to fans speculating.
The Oilers made back-to-back Stanley Cup Final trips, only to fall to the Florida Panthers both times. NHL insider Elliotte Friedman said those tough endings have frustrated McDavid. On his 32 Thoughts podcast, he said that the star is “sick of” losing.
It is easy for Oilers fans to relate. McDavid has racked up just about every individual honor– several Art Ross trophies, three Hart trophies, a Conn Smythe– but the one thing missing is the Stanley Cup.
Edmonton’s front office isn’t hiding its priorities, either. General manager Stan Bowman called McDavid the anchor of Edmonton’s future plans, saying the team wants him for the long haul. Still, every day that extension talks remain open, they weigh heavily on the 2024-25 campaign.
There’s no debate about McDavid’s impact. Since going first overall in the 2015 NHL Draft, McDavid has scored 361 goals and 1,082 points in 712 regular season games, plus another 150 points in the playoffs. He’s been the league’s top force for years, and if he ever left, it would send shockwaves through Edmonton and across the NHL.
The truth is, Carney’s comments drive home that this is bigger than just captain and city. For a country that hasn’t seen the Stanley Cup since 1993, McDavid represents a kind of hope that feels national– and the contract standoff shows just how much pressure comes with that.
