Connor McDavid Sighting Fuels Speculation about Move to Hometown Team

Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid was sighted playing in a beer league game last Wednesday night. The game took place in McDavid’s hometown of Newmarket, Ontario, in front of a delighted crowd.

The game was part of Connor McDavid enjoying some downtime while on vacation from the rigors of NHL life. However, the sighting has fueled speculation about McDavid’s potential move to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Here’s a look at McDavid in action:

This goalie robbed McDavid during the scrimmage

The game was all in good fun as the NHL’s best player was looking to reconnect with friends, family, and his community. Nevertheless, the sighting has done little to quell fans’ chatter that McDavid could sign with the Toronto Maple Leafs after this season.

As long as Connor McDavid does not sign an extension with the Oilers, rumors will never go away completely. McDavid is from the Toronto area, so there’s a natural link there. Whether that link leads to the three-time Hart Trophy winner signing with the Maple Leafs is an entirely different story.

Connor McDavid in No Rush to Sign with Oilers this Summer

As soon as the final buzzer sounded on the Edmonton Oilers’ season, the talk turned from the disappointing loss to the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final to Connor McDavid’s extension.

McDavid has been eligible to sign an extension with the Oilers since July 1. However, as McDavid himself pointed out, the two sides are taking negotiations slowly. He pointed out how there’s “no rush” to get a deal done.

At the time, Oilers Nation went into a meltdown following the comments. Parallel to that, other teams’ fan bases went into overdrive with speculation that McDavid could sign with their favorite team.

The likeliest outcome is that Connor McDavid re-signs with the Oilers. The club has gone out of its way to build as competitive a team as possible. While the talk is that McDavid could look at a short-term extension, it’s unlikely he departs next summer.

But then again, anything is possible in the NHL. If the Oilers have a bad season, speculation will continue to ramp up about McDavid leaving Edmonton.

Maple Leafs Identified as Potential Suitor for McDavid

Connor McDavid has been linked to just about every team in the league. Teams like the Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers, and Boston Bruins have consistently popped up as destinations for the 28-year-old superstar.

However, the Maple Leafs have remained a recurring theme. An article in Newsweek from July 6 cited comments by Adam Gretz from Bleacher Report. Gretz stated that the Leafs could do everything in their power to land McDavid if he were to hit free agency.

Moreover, the Leafs already have a superstar center in Auston Matthews. So, adding Connor McDavid would create the ultimate one-two punch in the NHL.

Like many other analysts and pundits, McDavid-to-Toronto is nothing more than talk at this point. But then again, the longer Connor McDavid takes to re-sign with the Oilers, the more amplified the speculation will become.