2 days ago
'Edmonton would cease to exist': L.A. hockey analyst pushes for McDavid to follow Gretzky's Tinsel Town path
Connor McDavid is up for a new contract and despite assurances from the most credible NHL insiders, such as Frank Seravalli, Elliotte Friedman, and Edmonton's own Bob Stauffer, that McDavid will sign a new deal in Edmonton, the hockey world has pulsated with rumours this summer that McDavid will move on to a new franchise.
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Most of the rumour-mongering has been wishful thinking at best, hallucinatory nonsense at worst.
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But I think today we have a winner for the summer of '25's top Connor McDavid fever dream concoction, this coming from Dan Powers of the Empty Netters podcast, based in Los Angeles.
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Said Powers: 'I have said so many times — and this is not because we live in LA. — if we saw the King's Ransom Part II and he got traded to LA, it would be the greatest thing to happen to the NHL in 50 years. It would be the greatest story of all time.'
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We'll dig into Powers' fantasy in a moment, but I'll note he's not the first to go down this path, with the McDavid rumours hot and heavy since early June.
June 2: New York Post hockey columnist Larry Brooks wrote that the McDavid free agency question was hanging over the Oilers' Cup run: 'The question is whether No. 97 would be more or less incentivized to leave Edmonton as a free agent next summer, and follow the Messier Route to Broadway with or without a championship.'
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Bruce Arthur of the Toronto Star joined in: 'One of the great quiet hopes in Toronto was always that Edmonton would be incompetent enough — or would stay incompetent enough, after one playoff series in the first six seasons of McDavid and Leon Draisaitl — that McDavid, a proud son of Thornhill, would want to come home…. That dream, of course, doesn't die. McDavid is signed through next season.'
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June 17. Adam Gretz of Bleacher Report listed possible landing spots for McDavid as Toronto, Vegas, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Boston and the New York Rangers.
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Said Getz: 'The Rangers have $11 million coming off the books next summer when Artemi Panarin becomes an unrestricted free agent, and they'll look to move on from Mika Zibanejad's contract at some point. They could easily create the cap flexibility to sign McDavid.'
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June 26. Some of the uproar was fuelled by McDavid himself speaking at his post-Stanley Cup loss press conference, then adding, 'With that being said, ultimately, I still need to do what's best for me and my family. That's who you have to take care of first.'
