One of the biggest preseason questions ahead of the 2025-26 NHL season has been answered. Connor McDavid will play hockey in Edmonton for at least a few more years.

On Monday, the day before the puck drops on the upcoming NHL season, the Edmonton Oilers announced a two-year, $25 million contract extension with McDavid. The deal will kick in at the start of the 2026-27 season, as McDavid has one year left on an eight-year, $100 million deal signed back in 2017.

For those of you who aren't good at doing quick math, McDavid's upcoming contract holds the exact same annual value of $12.5 million as his current contract. Yes folks, Connor McDavid took a hometown discount. And a pretty hefty one too.

It's no secret that McDavid's contract negotiations with the Oilers were set to cast a cloud over Edmonton's upcoming season. The Oilers are coming off of back-to-back Stanley Cup Final losses at the hands of the Florida Panthers. Sure, the Panthers have been a juggernaut of a hockey team these last few years, but the Oilers have not put the best supporting cast around McDavid to give them the best chance at winning.

As For The Win's managing editor Charles Curtis put it back in June after the Oilers' disappointing Stanley Cup Final showing, McDavid just hasn't gotten the help he needs to carry this team over the finish line:

If you're going to win the Stanley Cup, you need a goaltender to make key saves. The Oilers never really addressed that — Stuart Skinner has been good, but not dominant. In years past, Mike Smith was in between the pipes. And this year, Skinner and Calvin Pickard split time. Not good.

And while the defense has some names on paper like Darnell Nurse, Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm, it felt like health and depth were questions.

This stat tells you something:

Connor McDavid might be the best hockey player in the world, but even he cannot win the Stanley Cup alone. It's clear McDavid wants to win in Edmonton. He wouldn't have signed a contract extension with the team if he didn't think that was the case.

But what is interesting is the length of McDavid's contract extension. McDavid took a massive hometown discount to stay in Edmonton for the next few years. Including this year, McDavid will have three more cracks at the summit with the Oilers. McDavid's two-year extension will take him to the summer of 2028 where he will be 31 years old. It seems pretty clear, then, that this deal for McDavid is a "put up or shut up" move where all the pressure now shifts to the Oilers to put a contending team around him.

In the short-term, this is a clear-cut win for the Oilers. The team will now be able to enter the 2025-26 season with a sigh of relief that McDavid's contract won't be hanging over their heads all year. But now, the clock is ticking. General manager Stan Bowman and the rest of the Oilers' front office have their work cut out for them and nothing but a Stanley Cup will satisfy their superstar.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Connor McDavid’s new contract sends clear message to Oilers

Reporting by Mary Clarke, For The Win / For The Win

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