McDavid Trade Might Be Best Way Forward After Oilers Slip-Up Again in Stanley Cup Final

Edmonton should get something for NHL superstar, who could exit the team as free agent after next season.

Connor McDavid (97) of the Edmonton Oilers looks on during the second period against the Florida Panthers in Game Six of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla., on June 17, 2025. Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

The ice is broken in Edmonton, Alberta.

According to the results, it’s obvious. Observers have seen the cracks there since last season.

The Edmonton fractures are now beyond repair after consecutive losses to the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final—the latest in six games.

The Oilers were forced to battle back from a three-game deficit against the Panthers in last year’s final, forcing a decisive seventh game before falling 2–1.

The ice was looking fine this postseason after the Oilers ripped off four consecutive victories in their first-round series against the Los Angeles Kings. They stumbled out of the playoff gate, falling behind 0–2 in the series before smoking their division rivals with a string of four comeback wins to knock the Kings from the postseason for the fourth year in a row.

However, the goaltending situation was shaky in the first round, and it was an utter disaster against the Panthers, who turned the Oilers away with a 5–1 laugher in Game 6 on June 17.

It turns out McDavid, whom no one doubts will be a Hall of Famer as soon as he’s eligible, was a nonfactor in the finale, and fellow forward Leon Draisaitl was a source of energy that couldn’t penetrate the Panthers’ forcefield enough to lift the Oilers to glory.

So instead of knocking their collective heads against the wall by repeating the same thing and expecting a Cup-winning result, Edmonton might want to consider taking this drastic step: Send McDavid on his way while the franchise still has the ability to turn the superstar into a roster-boosting rebuild resource.

Former NHL player Daryl Evans, a radio color commentator for the Kings since 1998, called the notion of the Oilers trading McDavid “interesting.” He said the amount of shock and awe for a potential move “depends [on] where he goes and what the deal is,” he wrote in a direct message to The Epoch Times.

This past season was McDavid’s 10th with the Oilers and the 11th for Draisaitl. McDavid chided the team’s approach in the series during his postgame press availability after the Panthers clinched back-to-back Cups on June 17.

Connor McDavid (97) of the Edmonton Oilers celebrates a goal with teammates against the Florida Panthers during the third period in Game Five of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, on June 14, 2025. Jamie Squire/Getty Images

“We kept [expletive] trying the same thing over and over again, just banging our heads against the wall,” McDavid said.

And it doesn’t make sense to bang those heads in the same place and manner again, even if this postseason was technically a success. The Oilers finished sixth in the Western Conference and weren’t expected to make a return run to the Final.

McDavid admitted: “I don’t think people thought we were going to make it this far. We obviously believed, we came up just a bit short again.”

On the other hand, the Oilers have not necessarily been astute at building around their two stars. Players such as Evan Bouchard, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Zach Hyman have developed, but goalie Stuart Skinner’s play forced backup Calvin Pickard into games at times, and that was certainly not the answer against a team like Florida.

This version of the team had two chances to capture a Cup. It might be time to see what other teams can do with McDavid, while also affording the Cup-motivated player the opportunity to shoot his shot elsewhere.

The superstar sent out mixed messages following the team’s disappointing conclusion to the season.

“This core has been together a long time and we’ve been building to this moment all along,” McDavid pointed out at his exit press conference last week. “The work that’s gone on behind the scenes, the conversations, the endless disappointments and some good times along the way, obviously, as well. We’re all in this together, trying to get it over the finish line.”

McDavid enters the final season of an eight-year deal when the next NHL season kicks off. He hasn’t signed an extension—the sides are set to meet soon—and could walk as a free agent after the season. That would leave the cupboard without its biggest and best item.

The Toronto Maple Leafs might be a destination that could trade enough assets for McDavid and still have enough talent to make a push to the Stanley Cup.

Auston Matthews is a competent fill-in for the Oilers in a trade, and young talent and draft picks could lead the team forward.

Another possible trade partner might be Dallas, which is not really a hockey town, but the Stars are in need of someone to get them over the hump. McDavid joining that combination of scorers and goaltending could make a potent postseason mix.

Teams like the Las Vegas Golden Knights, the Colorado Avalanche, and the Winnipeg Jets are also candidates that could withstand a loss of assets and still improve with McDavid on the squad.

It would be a bizarre sight to see McDavid in another uniform, but Edmonton’s season ended in Sunrise, Florida, and the sun could set on the Oilers’ control of McDavid if there is no Cup run on the horizon.