Rumor sends Connor McDavid to Tampa Bay

Is Connor McDavid wasting his talent in Edmonton?

Since the Oilers were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Final for the second year in a row, everyone’s wondering whether McDavid might want to try out for another team to try and win the Stanley Cup.

When it comes to the NHL’s best player potentially leaving his team, the rumour mill starts in earnest!

A rumour shared by Matt Murley of the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast sends McDavid to Tampa Bay.

It’s hard to know if Matt Murley is serious or if he’s actually someone with good NHL connections, but he sounded convincing. And let’s just say former Oilers player and Spittin’ Chiclets host Ryan Whitney wasn’t too happy to hear this rumor.

McDavid’s contract expires after next season, and it would be surprising to see the Oilers let him go as an uncompensated free agent. Losing McDavid without any compensation would be the most painful thing for Edmonton.

If McDavid does decide to leave Edmonton, the Alberta outfit will do everything in its power to trade him before the trade deadline. And trading McDavid can be very lucrative.
Let’s assume that the rumour is true and that the Lightning really would trade for McDavid. We can expect to see some big names leave.

In fact, the Lightning would be forced to give away established talent because their prospect bank isn’t the best and they don’t have a first-round pick until 2028!

The Oilers would have several options, depending on how much Julien BriseBois is willing to give up.

We’re talking about guys like Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Brandon Hagel, Jake Guentzel, Anthony Cirelli, Victor Hedman or even Andrei Vasilevskiy.

To solve the goaltending problem with Vasilevskiy when McDavid leaves would be the height of irony.

The biggest problem with McDavid is that he will almost certainly have the biggest contract in the NHL after next season.

Julien BriseBois is one of the best GMs in the NHL, but managing the NHL’s biggest contract will always be a difficult task. There’s a reason the Oilers have trouble filling the rest of the team with players who can win you a Stanley Cup.

Regardless of the trade offers they receive, we can still expect the Oilers to do everything in their power to extend McDavid’s contract.