{"id":43997,"date":"2025-05-23T02:47:10","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T02:47:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/43997\/"},"modified":"2025-05-23T02:47:10","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T02:47:10","slug":"could-hit-the-open-market-connor-mcdavids-uncertain-future-with-oilers-draws-comparisons-to-wayne-gretzkys-historic-nhl-exit-nhl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/43997\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cCould hit the open market\u201d: Connor McDavid\u2019s uncertain future with Oilers draws comparisons to Wayne Gretzky\u2019s historic NHL exit | NHL News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\u201cCouldEdmonton Oilers face the potential departure of Connor McDavid, reminiscent of Wayne Gretzky’s 1988 trade (Imagn Images) The Edmonton Oilers are facing a familiar storm \u2014 one that mirrors the franchise\u2019s most infamous moment from 1988. That was the year Wayne Gretzky, the face of the NHL and the pride of Edmonton, was traded to the Los Angeles Kings due to financial constraints and expiring contract concerns.Fast forward to 2025, and Oilers captain Connor McDavid might be walking a similar path \u2014 this time, possibly toward New York.<\/p>\n

Stan Fischler and insiders hint Connor McDavid could follow Wayne Gretzky\u2019s path to New York if Oilers falter again<\/p>\n

Connor McDavid, who signed a massive eight-year, $100 million contract in 2017, has just one year remaining on his deal. While he\u2019s maintained elite performance levels, the team around him has struggled to deliver playoff success. Now, with the salary cap increasing and free agency looming, NHL insiders are starting to speculate that the league\u2019s brightest star could soon test the open market.Hockey Hall of Famer Stan Fischler ignited debate with a tweet that sparked real buzz, \u201cJust for the sake of argument, let\u2019s say that @Oilers don\u2019t win the Stanley Cup, AGAIN. What are the chances that eventual free agent #ConnorMcDavid rents his Edmonton digs and decides to do a Gretzky and rents a condo within walking distance of @NYRangers MSG? Possible? No? Yes!\u201dWhile clearly hypothetical, the comment struck a chord \u2014 especially considering that Gretzky himself eventually joined the Rangers in 1996 and closed out his career in New York. Could McDavid follow suit?Adding fuel to the speculation, ESPN NHL insider Greg Wyshynski also floated the idea, \u201cThere\u2019s a pie-in-the-sky part of this that I can\u2019t ignore\u2026 Until he puts pen to paper, there\u2019s every possibility that Connor McDavid could hit the open market. If that\u2019d ever happen, I truly believe that the Rangers would be one of the teams he\u2019d look at.\u201dAlso Read: NHL Trade Rumors: Ottawa Senators eye Aaron Ekblad as top defensive target amid Nick Jensen injury concerns<\/a>If McDavid leaves, it would mark one of the biggest free agency moves since Gretzky\u2019s trade \u2014 not just for the Oilers, but for the entire NHL. Whether Edmonton re-signs its generational talent or watches him walk away may define the league\u2019s next era.
Get IPL 2025<\/a> match schedules<\/a>, squads<\/a>, points table<\/a>, and live scores for CSK<\/a>, MI<\/a>, RCB<\/a>, KKR<\/a>, SRH<\/a>, LSG<\/a>, DC<\/a>, GT<\/a>, PBKS<\/a>, and RR<\/a>. Check the latest IPL Orange Cap<\/a> and Purple Cap<\/a> standings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Edmonton Oilers face the potential departure of Connor McDavid, reminiscent of Wayne Gretzky’s 1988 trade (Imagn Images) The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":43998,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5125],"tags":[155,9898,9899,198,146,9900,5300,5,4,9902,24,9901,9903],"class_list":{"0":"post-43997","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edmonton-oilers","8":"tag-connor-mcdavid","9":"tag-connor-mcdavid-free-agency","10":"tag-connor-mcdavid-future","11":"tag-edmonton","12":"tag-edmonton-oilers","13":"tag-edmonton-oilers-rumors","14":"tag-edmontonoilers","15":"tag-hockey","16":"tag-nhl","17":"tag-nhl-trade-speculation","18":"tag-oilers","19":"tag-wayne-gretzky-trade-history","20":"tag-wayne-gretzkys"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/114554866473885993","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43997\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}