NHL Insider believes that Connor McDavid has had enough, could request a trade this summer
Let's not mince words here.. the Edmonton Oilers are in rough shape this year. They have now lost 6 straight and 12 of their last 14 games, after blowing a 3-1 lead to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday, coming up on the wrong end of a 6-4 decision at home.
You certainly want to feel bad for the Oilers in all of this, but it's tough when they've had several cracks at fixing the problem between the pipes, instead electing to spend valuable cap dollars elsewhere, allowing the best years of Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid to slip away with nothing to show for it.
One move in particular that has probably gone under the radar as a huge miss by the Oilers is the decision to sign winger Zach Hyman to a 7-year deal worth $5.5M per season instead of using those cap dollars on a quality goaltender like Jacob Markstrom, who signed a 6-year deal worth $36M this summer with the Flames, right down the road in Calgary.
There has been a lot of speculation over how serious the frustration is between McDavid and the Oilers, which has led to the unearthing of a comment from 2019 when trusted Insider Elliotte Friedman suggested that McDavid and the Oilers had come to an agreement on a 2-year plan to turn things around.
Well, here we are in 2022 and the Oilers are no closer to contending than they were then, appearing to have devolved over the last couple of seasons, which begs the question.. Does McDavid finally want out?
During an appearance on Oilers Now on Friday, here's what Friedman had to say on the matter.
"I'm not putting any words in (McDavid's) mouth. I'm not jumping to conclusions. I'm just saying that I don't understand why this is a big news flash. If the Oilers miss the playoffs this year it's a really bad thing for the franchise."
If there is indeed friction between McDavid and the Oilers brewing that could lead to a divorce, I can imagine that 31 NHL teams will have an interest in acquiring the best player on the planet.
