Oilers 'not nervous' about McDavid contract talks, CEO says

EDMONTON -- Jeff Jackson is confident Connor McDavid will stay with the Edmonton Oilers beyond the final season of his current contract and said the organization is "not nervous" about the negotiations on a new deal.

The Oilers CEO and president of hockey operations told CHED radio in Edmonton on Tuesday that he believes McDavid will sign a new contract in due time.

“I know there are sort of lots of commentary on the fact that Connor is not yet signed and why he hasn’t signed yet,” Jackson said on the “Oilers Now” show. “(Oilers general manager) Stan [Bowman] and I, and (owner) Daryl Katz and the rest of the management group, we don’t feel that way, we’re not nervous about it.

“Connor’s been an Oiler for 10 years. He’s done a lot of playing in Edmonton and living in Edmonton. He’s been very public about his desire to win and that’s sort of driving his decision-making."

Jackson's comments come less than a week after McDavid, while attending Hockey Canada's 2025 National Teams Orientation Camp in Calgary, said he was going to be patient deciding his future.

McDavid became eligible to sign a new contract on July 1.

“I said at the end of June I had every intention to take my time with it and I still feel the same way,” the Edmonton captain said on Wednesday. “I’ll take my time and go through everything. I have every intention to win in Edmonton. It’s my only focus, maybe next to winning a gold medal with Canada. I’ll take my time going through it with my family, my agent and everybody involved. We're going through it slowly.”

The 28-year-old is going into the final season of an eight-year, $100 million contract ($12.5 million average annual value) he signed on July 5, 2017. Jackson was the center’s agent at the time and was hired by Edmonton on Aug. 3, 2023, to oversee the Oilers.

Jackson said he had an hourlong conversation with McDavid’s current agent, Judd Moldaver, on Tuesday.

“Most options as far as term are on the table and we’re confident we’re going to get a deal done,” Jackson said. “The season doesn’t start for another five weeks. Of course we’d like to have it done now. We’d like to have it done before camp starts, but we’re going to get it done at some point. I’m confident in that.”

McDavid had 100 points (26 goals, 74 assists) in 67 games last season and 33 points (seven goals, 26 assists) in 22 games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, helping Edmonton reach its second consecutive Stanley Cup Final. The Oilers lost both to the Florida Panthers.

The No. 1 pick in the 2015 NHL Draft is going into his 11th season with Edmonton and has had eight seasons with at least 100 points. He won the Hart Trophy as the most valuable player three times (2016-17, 2020-21, 2022-23), the Ted Lindsay Award as most outstanding player, as selected by his peers, four times (2016-17, 2017-18, 2020-21, 2022-23), the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL points leader five times (2016-17, 2017-18, 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23), and the Rocket Richard Trophy as the top goal-scorer once (2022-23).

McDavid has also won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP (2024), and last season he became the fourth-fastest player to reach 1,000 points (659 games), behind Wayne Gretzky (424), Mario Lemieux (513) and Mike Bossy (656).

Jackson believes McDavid's best chance to win the Stanley Cup is with Edmonton.

“When I got named to this position, I said our job in management was to have the team to be there at the end, fighting to win the Stanley Cup,” Jackson said. “We’ve done that two years in a row, but unfortunately we haven’t gotten the job done yet.

“Our team has been a very good team the last two years and we’re going to be a very good team again.”

As such, Jackson said there is little anxiety among the organization when it comes to McDavid signing a new contract with the Oilers.

“For him, there’s a comfort with Edmonton and with the organization and the people running the team, so we’re not nervous,” Jackson said. “It’s not as straightforward sometimes as people would like it to be. He’s just taking his time. He’s trying to figure out what he would like to do with the term of the deal.”