McDavid’s Loyalty to Oilers Becomes Stronger by the Day – Hockey Writers – Edmonton Oilers

It’s hard to believe, but Connor McDavid has played 11 seasons in the NHL. It was almost 11 years ago that the Edmonton Oilers returned to the field in 2015 to announce that they were selecting the player who is now the best player with the first overall pick. No wonder it has been a complete blessing to the organization.

McDavid, who put up 138 points this past season, now sits with 409 goals and 1,220 points in just 794 games. During that time he won six Art Ross Awards, five Ted Lindsay Awards, three Hart Trophies, the Rocket Richard Trophy, and the Conn Smythe Trophy. He is already one of the most decorated players in NHL history, and will go down as one of the best players to ever play the game. That said, there is still one thing he has yet to do.

That, of course, would win the Stanley Cup. He and the Oilers have come close, advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals in both 2024 and 2025 before falling to the Florida Panthers. Those runs made it seem like winning the Cup was just a matter of time for Edmonton. After that, the 2025-26 season took place.

McDavid Remains Faithful Despite Frustration

Instead of continuing to perform as one of the best teams in the NHL this past season, the Oilers regressed in a big way. They finished the season with only 93 points, which would have resulted in them missing out completely if they played in the Eastern Conference.

Surprisingly, the Oilers couldn’t flip the switch in the playoffs. They continued to look like an old, slow team, and were eliminated in the first round by the Anaheim Ducks. It was a disastrous season and many felt it would be the new normal in Edmonton given their salary cap.

Although clearly frustrated, McDavid remains committed to Edmonton. In fact, he has had a big say in who is hired as their new coach, with reports that he and other members of the leadership team have met with Mike Babcock and other coaching candidates. It shows that his desire to win in Edmonton remains as strong as ever.

This kind of loyalty from McDavid is becoming increasingly rare in today’s NHL. This is a player who seems to have every excuse in the book to ask for a trade, and in all honesty, he probably wouldn’t get a ton of flak from Oilers fans for doing so.

For example, when McDavid was in the league, many top players forced trades to other cities. Matthew Tkachuk did so in 2022, and a recent example includes Quinn Hughes. And, of course, there’s the Brady Tkachuk situation that happened over the weekend that saw him traded to the Florida Panthers.

Meanwhile in Detroit, Dylan Larkin, who serves as the captain of the Red Wings, has fallen ill due to the difficulties of his team. He hasn’t been moved, but he requested a trade shortly after the 2025-26 campaign wrapped up. It is also speculated that Zach Werenski may want to leave the Columbus Blue Jackets organization, while Connor Hellebuyck sounds like he is leaning towards a trade to the Winnipeg Jets.

This is not meant as a knock on those players. They deserve the right to control, at least a little, where they play. As we all know, all NHLers are driven to win, and most of these trade requests happened because certain teams were nowhere near being a Stanley Cup contender. Still, the fact that the game’s best player hasn’t won it all, yet hasn’t asked for a trade, shows how important it is to McDavid to bring a championship to the city and organization that makes his NHL dream come true.

Fat Management Needs to Step Up

As reliable as McDavid is, there’s a good chance he’s close to being bored. The writing seemed to be on the wall after agreeing to extend the contract for just two years, which is expected to start this season. In other words, time is running out to win the Stanley Cup with McDavid on their roster.

It won’t be easy for general manager (GM) Stan Bowman to make the right changes to put the Oilers in a better position next season, but he needs to find a way. He didn’t help with some decisions like the Trent Frederic extension, and he needs to do a better job to reward McDavid. After all, superstars like him don’t come along, and rarely do they stay with a team that has made as many mistakes in the front office as Edmonton.