Marc-Olivier Beaudoin just made a big announcement on a Sunday morning that shook up the Montreal Canadiens off-season.
The journalist shared on X that he heard the Canadiens are one of the top choices for Connor McDavid if he ever thinks about leaving the Edmonton Oilers.
The New York Rangers are said to be the other team in that small group. Both of these teams are very famous in the league. They also have the kind of attention and reputation that a superstar might want as he ends his career.
Beaudoin was careful to explain things clearly. He is not claiming that McDavid has made any choices yet. He is not saying there has been any request for a trade. He isn’t saying Montreal would destroy its team to make this happen.
He is suggesting that if McDavid decides to leave, the Canadiens might be his top choice. This is an important point to remember in any rumors about this topic.
The extra details make this news harder to ignore. It is said that McDavid went to Montreal for the F1 Grand Prix and checked out certain areas, like Brossard and Westmount. These are places a player considers when he’s thinking of where to live in the future.
Why this relates to McDavid’s contract situation
Pierre LeBrun talked earlier this week on Melnick in the Afternoon and mentioned that both McDavid and Auston Matthews are still deciding whether to stay with their current teams. LeBrun thinks both players will stick around for at least another year.
McDavid has a special no-move clause, so the Oilers can’t make him do anything he doesn’t want to. Stan Bowman understands that the power is completely in the player’s hands. The search for a new head coach in Edmonton and changes in the front office are all happening with this uncertainty in the background.
The 29-year-old player just scored 138 points during the regular season while costing $12.5 million against the salary cap. He scored 48 goals and made 90 assists. This level of performance is something any team aiming for a championship would give up a lot for.
His current contract lasts until the end of the 2025-26 season. He will be a free agent starting July 1, 2028. This means the Oilers have two more opportunities to try to keep him before he can choose to move to any team he likes.
General Manager Kent Hughes has been careful to build the Canadiens team. They finished in 6th place with a record of 48 wins, 24 losses, and 10 ties, totaling 106 points, and they nearly beat Carolina in the Eastern Conference Final. The team has a solid foundation.
Martin St-Louis would definitely enjoy the chance to coach McDavid. Both have a natural skill for offense. If Montreal ever wanted to sign him, the plan would be easy to come up with.
I had some really interesting talks last week, but I wanted to wait until things calmed down before I shared them. I found out that if Connor McDavid wanted to leave Edmonton, Montreal would be one of the few teams he would consider for a trade or to sign with when he becomes fully free on July 1, 2028. When he visited Montreal for the F1 Grand Prix, he checked out some areas in Brossard and Westmount. That means Montreal and New York (Rangers) are two places he might think about moving to, according to reporter Marc-Olivier Beaudoin.
Honestly, this news fits a common pattern. Players often visit cities they are interested in. Those who follow the league notice these hints. The conversations often relate to the locations involved. Sometimes they lead to actual moves, and sometimes they do not.
The group of Lane Hutson, Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, and Juraj Slafkovsky would handle McDavid better than most teams in hockey. The Canadiens already have their budget ready for some big contracts coming up. The team seems good on paper.
The Oilers need to focus on other things right now. They are dealing with choosing a new head coach (either Bruce Cassidy or Peter Laviolette), figuring out what to do with their goalies, and looking at trades for the offseason. McDavid’s future is a big factor in all of these choices.
Rumors are still going around. Beaudoin’s take was careful. The consequences were not.
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