(Reuters) -Connor McDavid, widely considered the best ice hockey player on the planet, has signed a two-year contract extension with the Edmonton Oilers, the NHL team said on Monday ahead of the 2025-26 season.
The Oilers captain, who was entering the final season of an eight-year contract, signed an extension with an average annual value of $12.5 million that will keep the three-times league most valuable player under team control for three seasons.
“Connor’s commitment to our team and our city is surpassed only by his singular focus on bringing a Stanley Cup back to fans of the Edmonton Oilers,” Oilers general manager Stan Bowman said in a news release.
The 28-year-old McDavid, who led Edmonton to the Stanley Cup Final in each of the last two seasons where they lost to Florida both times, also confirmed the deal on social media.
“Our journey here continues,” McDavid, who had been set to become an unrestricted free agent after this season, wrote on X along with photos of him and Oilers teammates on the ice.
McDavid was selected by Edmonton with the first pick of the 2015 NHL Draft but his future with the team had been a source of speculation this offseason given he had been eligible to sign a new contract with Edmonton since July 1.
Following Edmonton’s loss in the 2025 Stanley Cup Final, McDavid said he didn’t have a timeline to sign a new contract and did not commit to the team beyond the upcoming season.
The Canadian said he wanted to take his time before deciding his NHL future, though most experts felt remaining with Edmonton was widely considered the most likely outcome.
McDavid, one of the most dynamic and accomplished players in Oilers franchise history, is coming off a 100-point season in which he had 26 goals and 74 assists in 67 games.
In 10 NHL seasons, McDavid has produced 1,082 points across 712 games after scoring 361 career goals and adding 721 assists.
He has also earned the Art Ross Trophy five times as the NHL’s top point-scorer and in 2024 became only the sixth player from a losing team to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the playoffs.
Edmonton open their 2025-26 season on Wednesday at home against the Calgary Flames.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in TorontoEditing by Christian Radnedge)
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