Edmonton Oilers players talk injuries, contracts, perceptions on the Stanley Cup final, and more at locker room clean-out day.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, worse than we thought:
If you thought Florida Panthers captain Alexander Barkov’s glued-back-together hand was bad, well, you’d be right; that’s gross. But Edmonton Oilers winger Ryan Nugent-Hopkins played through the Stanley Cup final with a broken hand.
“Injuries definitely have been a factor,” began Connor McDavid. “For Nuge to gut it out with a broken hand, and give us what we need, was pretty special.”
They’re hockey players, it’s what they do.
Is Trent Frederic about to make too much money?
The Oilers are close to finalizing an eight-year extension with Trent Frederic at 4 million AAV, far from the three-year, 2.5-3 million cap he was expected to sign at.
Clearly, Stan Bowman is paying for the top six winger or third line center he beleives Frederic could be once he is 100 per cent healed, not the third line winger we witnessed during playoffs.
“Playing this time of year, with this group, and having a chance to do that year in, year out, is why I would love to be back here,” explained Frederic. “Everyone at the rink, it’s pretty impressive when I first got here, how genuine, nice everyone is.
“It’s a first-class organization. They treat you very well.”
Connor McDavid is in no rush to deal with contract extension:
The moment the Oilers have dreaded is about to arrive, July 1, 2025, when Connor McDavid’s contract is open to an extension and negotiations must be had—not that he’d seriously ever leave.
Right?
During the locker room cleanout day, McDavid reiterated several times that he is in no hurry to re-sign with the Oilers. He plans to do what’s best for himself and his family and does not wish to rush any agreements.
“This core has been together for a long time,” began McDavid. “We’re all in this together, trying to get it over that finish line. We’ve been building to this moment, all the work that’s gone on behind the scenes, the conversations, the endless disappointments.”
Anything involving a continuation with a team and the phrase “endless disappointments” cannot be good.
“With that being said,” continued McDavid. “I still need to do what’s best for me and my family.”
A final statement regarding how the core group can maintain such deep cup runs ended with, “beyond next season,” when he’s a UFA, “I don’t care.”
“If I feel that there’s a good window to win here over and over again, then signing is no problem.”
Signings you can count on:
All Corey Perry cares about is winning, and he might take a pay cut to do so.
“I just want to win,” began Perry. “And hopefully it’s here, I want to stay (in Edmonton).”
Evan Bouchard, though? A little harder to read.
“I love being here,” explained Bouchard. “Want to be here. And I’ll see where talks go in the next few days when I get home.”
Every question surrounding a trade, offer sheet, or contract extension boiled down to three things.
Bouchard loves playing in Edmonton. He wants to stay in Edmonton. And talks are just getting started.
Oilers acknowledge Florida’s dominance:
The Oilers had more than a few areas of improvement in the Stanley Cup final—goaltending, defence, giveaways, physicality, lack of top-six scoring, to name a few—but in the end, it might not have mattered. The Florida Panthers were just that good.
Compare a third line of J. Skinner – Henrique – Frederic with a third line of Marchand – Lundell – Luostarinen, and there really isn’t a comparison.
“Their third line is +20,” began McDavid. “That’s unheard of. They’ve obviously come up with a recipe that’s extremely successful.”
“They were much better than last year,” agreed Draisaitl. “And they were good last year.
“We probably just made it a little bit too easy for them, especially the last couple of games.”
