- Wayne Gretzky weighed in on Connor McDavid’s future on The Pat McAfee Show
- The Great One also talked Stanley Cup pressure and Evan Bouchard’s big night
- Read below for the video and everything Gretzky said
Wayne Gretzky doesn’t think Connor McDavid is going anywhere.
The Great One joined The Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday, and the crew half-jokingly pitched him on McDavid landing in Pittsburgh. Gretzky laughed that he lives in Florida and would like to see him there. Then he got serious about where McDavid actually belongs.
“I think he’s a mainstay in Edmonton,” Gretzky said. “He likes it there. The organization is a good organization and they’ve got a chance every year to win. And that’s all he wants. I don’t see Connor leaving Edmonton.”
Watch the full Gretzky video, with the McDavid talk starting just after the five-minute mark:
McDavid is in the first year of the two-year extension he signed last October at a $12.5 million cap hit, the same number as his old deal. He becomes eligible to sign again on July 1, 2027, which is why the question follows him around every summer.
Earlier in the segment, Gretzky was asked how much pressure is on McDavid as he closes in on 30 without a ring. He called him the best player in the game and said the Cup is the one thing left.
“There’s always a stigma about winning a Stanley Cup,” Gretzky said. “And I know him really well. Nobody wants to win a championship worse than he does. So hopefully his time will come. I know it’s not from a lack of effort or dedication or love of the sport.”
Edmonton has been close. The Oilers reached back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals in 2024 and 2025 before a first-round exit last spring.
Gretzky thinks the fix is depth, and he said that’s what he’s hearing from the new coaching staff too. One line can’t win a championship, in his words, “you’ve got to have 20 guys pulling on the same rope.” He expects Edmonton to be “a way better team come February than it is in October.”
October didn’t start great. Evan Bouchard had a hat trick and two assists in Tuesday’s opener, and the Oilers still lost in overtime to the Canucks. Gretzky put the defenseman in “pretty good company” with Hall of Famer Mark Howe.
Check out Bouchard completing the hat trick:
Mike Babcock called that loss “ridiculous” afterward. Gretzky sounds a lot more patient, and he’s betting McDavid chases his first Stanley Cup in an Oilers sweater.
