{"id":149830,"date":"2025-09-17T06:45:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T06:45:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/149830\/"},"modified":"2025-09-17T06:45:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T06:45:13","slug":"waiting-game-continues-on-connor-mcdavid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/149830\/","title":{"rendered":"Waiting game continues on Connor McDavid"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gino Reda is joined by TSN Hockey Insiders Chris Johnston, Pierre LeBrun, and Darren Dreger to discuss the contract negotiations between Connor McDavid<\/a> and the Edmonton Oilers<\/a>, the status of the talks between Kirill Kaprizov<\/a> and the Minnesota Wild<\/a>, where things stand between the Winnipeg Jets<\/a> and Kyle Connor<\/a>, and more on Insider Trading.<\/p>\n

Gino Reda: Is Connor McDavid<\/a> going to go into the final season of his contract with the [Edmonton] Oilers without a new deal in place?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a question we\u2019ve been asking almost daily since he was first eligible to sign an extension back on July 1.<\/p>\n

What are the chances McDavid gets something done with the Oilers before puck drop to the regular season?<\/p>\n

Chris Johnston: What I can tell you is that he\u2019s going to show up to the first day of work on Wednesday with the fitness testing and medical testing in Edmonton and there will not be an extension done.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not going to be necessarily a huge surprise, given some of his recent comments made publicly. But I do think it\u2019s a notable development because he\u2019s had three months nearly where he could sign an extension with the Oilers and has yet to do so.<\/p>\n

Really, it doesn\u2019t sound like too much has changed on his end in terms of wanting more time to look at where things are at.<\/p>\n

So, I think it would be premature, even if we fast forward into the regular season, to judge when this is going to happen. I think this completely remains on McDavid\u2019s timeline, but he still has some reticence about where the lineup is at, wants time to see what the contract looks like, and wants to see how every kind of develops this season.<\/p>\n

So, I\u2019m not going to put a timeline on it, but the fact that he\u2019s showing up to work on Day 1 without a new contract is certainly notable.<\/p>\n

Reda: So how much is McDavid going to make? Well, Kirill Kaprizov<\/a> reportedly turned down a deal that would have paid him $16 million a season with the Minnesota Wild<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the latest on Minnesota trying to extend their superstar?<\/p>\n

Pierre LeBrun: What I can tell you is that offer remains on the table.<\/p>\n

I think it\u2019s important to note a couple of things. First of all, the Wild are not engaged in talks with other teams on Kaprizov. Their only focus is to try to re-sign him.<\/p>\n

They believe that they have a chance to re-sign him and that the player wants to stay. That\u2019s important because if the rejection of that offer last week was a final \u2018get me out of here\u2019 sentiment, this would be an entirely different conversation right now.<\/p>\n

The Wild do not believe that. They think they still have a shot at signing him right now.<\/p>\n

Until then, there\u2019s no point for teams to be calling because the Wild don\u2019t want to take their calls. So, this is all about trying to get him done.<\/p>\n

Now, Kaprizov has not been heard on this subject since he rejected the offer. He will meet the media in Minnesota on Thursday when camp opens, which is the same day that general manager Bill Guerin<\/a> will also meet the media.<\/p>\n

Reda: The Winnipeg Jets<\/a> are still trying to lock up their leading scorer from last year, where are they now with Kyle Connor<\/a>?<\/p>\n

Darren Dreger: It\u2019s just a continued line of communication.<\/p>\n

Talk about high-level, high-status players in this initial edition of Insider Trading and Connor deserves a spot in this conversation.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think that there\u2019s any doubt that the Jets have put a priority on extending Connor for as long as they can. That\u2019s just the reality of the situation and I don\u2019t doubt for a second that they will extend Connor because he\u2019s been such a key piece of this organization\u2019s past, present, and future.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no timeline on this but, again, lines of communication are completely open as Connor goes into the final year of an almost $50 million deal. Based on years of production, it\u2019s safe to assume that Connor has earned a decent raise.<\/p>\n

Reda: Anthony Stolarz<\/a> was a pretty good deal for the Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a> after making $2.5 million last year and this year. Where do the Leafs go with him moving forward?<\/p>\n

Dreger: Well, like everybody else, just good dialogue and steady negotiations with the agent.<\/p>\n

Stolarz likes being a member of the Maple Leafs and the Maple Leafs see great value in the tandem of Stolarz and Joseph Woll<\/a>. So, they\u2019re working on it.<\/p>\n

Again, no timeline here but I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if they get something done before the start of the year. But I wouldn\u2019t look beyond and say, \u2018Okay, if they don\u2019t get something done before the start of the season, is there a problem?\u2019<\/p>\n

The Maple Leafs believe that they might be able to get both these goaltenders locked down for at least the next couple of years for just over $8 million total.<\/p>\n

The comparables for Stolarz, I would look at Kevin Lankanen with the Vancouver Canucks<\/a>, who is on a five-year, $22.5 million contract. There\u2019s also Karel Vajmelka of the Utah Mammoth, who is at $23.75 million on a five-year package.<\/p>\n

So, there\u2019s still some work to be done between Stolarz and the Leafs.<\/p>\n

Reda: Elsewhere, there\u2019s still a key number of restricted free agents still looking for a deal. That includes Luke Hughes<\/a> of the New Jersey Devils<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Any news on that front?<\/p>\n

LeBrun: I checked in on this day and both sides are still grinding away.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the word that both sides used to describe the negotiations. The RFA of the Devils put up a lot of power-play points the last few years, 41 in total. He\u2019s looking to be a big part of their future.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s interesting is if and when he signs, we expect that to be a long-term deal. What does that mean for the future of Dougie Hamilton<\/a>? How many power-play quarterbacks do you need in the modern NHL?<\/p>\n

Hamilton has three years left on his deal at $9 million per season and has a modified no-trade clause with 10 teams he can be traded to.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not saying that\u2019s an imminent conversation, but something to file away, perhaps closer to the March 6 trade deadline.<\/p>\n

Johnston: Two other RFAs badly in need of a contract, certainly if they\u2019re going to get there for training camp, are Mason McTavish<\/a> of the Anaheim Ducks<\/a> and Luke Evangelista<\/a> of the Nashville Predators<\/a>.<\/p>\n

McTavish is a 22-year-old centreman who is coming off a 50-point season. There were discussions this summer about a long-term deal, but it\u2019s been hard to find the right numbers and right term for both sides. So, maybe this ends up being a short-term contract.<\/p>\n

But this one I\u2019m watching closely because the Ducks have had some long negotiations with RFAs in recent seasons.<\/p>\n

As for Evangelista and the Predators, it doesn\u2019t sound like anything is at all close there at this time. So, maybe there will be one phone call that will lead to a move in one direction or not.<\/p>\n

But if not, he won\u2019t be in camp in Nashville.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gino Reda is joined by TSN Hockey Insiders Chris Johnston, Pierre LeBrun, and Darren Dreger to discuss the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":148625,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[79559,74729,712,49,48,79553,79560,79554,79555,79557,79556,79558,79561,79563,79562,448,82,74650,74727],"class_list":["post-149830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-anaheim-ducks-sports-hockey-team-team-nhl-api-24","tag-anthony-stolarz-sports-hockey-player-player-nhl-api-8476932","tag-apple-news","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-connor-mcdavid-sports-hockey-player-player-nhl-api-8478402","tag-edmonton-oilers-sports-hockey-team-team-nhl-api-22","tag-kirill-kaprizov-sports-hockey-player-player-nhl-api-8478864","tag-kyle-connor-sports-hockey-player-player-nhl-api-8478398","tag-luke-evangelista-sports-hockey-player-player-nhl-api-8482146","tag-luke-hughes-sports-hockey-player-player-nhl-api-8482684","tag-mason-mctavish-sports-hockey-player-player-nhl-api-8482745","tag-minnesota-wild-sports-hockey-team-team-nhl-api-30","tag-nashville-predators-sports-hockey-team-team-nhl-api-18","tag-new-jersey-devils-sports-hockey-team-team-nhl-api-1","tag-nhl","tag-sports","tag-toronto-maple-leafs-sports-hockey-team-team-nhl-api-10","tag-winnipeg-jets-sports-hockey-team-team-nhl-api-52"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}