Connor McDavid's future, Panthers' quest for rare 3-peat among NHL storylines

Connor McDavid will use as much runway as he sees fit.

Fans of the Edmonton Oilers, and the rest of the hockey world, will simply have to wait.

Storylines and talking points abound as the NHL pivots to the 2025-26 season. The list includes:

• The Florida Panthers' quest for a third straight Stanley Cup victory
• Oilers' push to get over their own title hump
• Sidney Crosby's uncertain future with the rebuilding Pittsburgh Penguins
• Alex Ovechkin's pursuit of 900 goals
• The league's Olympic return after a 12-year absence

No thread, however, has the razor-sharp focus and attention like McDavid's future in Alberta.

Edmonton's superstar captain is entering the final season of an eight-year contract that has carried a $12.5 million US salary cap hit since 2017-18. McDavid said in June after the Oilers lost the Panthers in the final for a second time in 12 months, he would take his time with the decision despite being eligible to put pen to paper July 1.

That didn't change throughout the summer or when Edmonton gathered for training camp last month.

"We think about it, we talk about it," McDavid said Sept. 18 of his process. "Gauge where we're at, what we're feeling."

And that appears to remain the case with the puck about to drop on 2025-26, and unrestricted free agency potentially looming July 1.

WATCH | Panthers beat Oilers in Game 6 to win back-to-back Stanley Cups:

The Minnesota Wild recently locked up star winger Kirill Kaprizov to a mammoth eight-year, $136-million extension, and record-setting $17-million cap hit, in a move that had many wondering what that deal might mean for McDavid.

The three-time Hart Trophy winner as NHL MVP has made it clear he wants to win in Edmonton. What's unclear is does that stretch beyond this season? And if he is indeed willing to sign, at what term?

McDavid also isn't the only big name on the impending UFA board with the regular season set to begin. The Newmarket, Ont., product is, of course, in a tier of his own, but other stars unsigned heading into the final years of their deals include Vegas Golden Knights centre Jack Eichel, Winnipeg Jets sniper Kyle Connor and New York Rangers winger Artemi Panarin.

While outsiders might see a feeding frenzy on the horizon with the salary cap projected to jump from $95.5 million this season to $104 million in 2026-27 and $113.5 million in 2027-28, Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving cautioned elite talent usually stays put.

"History has shown there's a lot of players that don't sign right now that usually get signed," he said last month.

The Panthers, meanwhile, will be looking to become the first team to go back-to-back-to-back since the New York Islanders won four straight titles in the early 1980s.

Florida winger Sam Reinhart explained at the recent NHL/NHLPA player media tour what his group has unlocked over the last two seasons -- one that managed to keep Sam Bennett, Brad Marchand and Aaron Ekblad in the fold this summer, but will have to withstand significant injuries to Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov.

"Trust in each other and the confidence that when the moment comes to us, we're going to be prepared to play our game," Reinhart said. "It's a team in every sense."

Tampa Bay defenceman Victor Hedman's was on the last club to win the Cup in consecutive years before his Lightning lost out to the Colorado Avalanche in the 2022 final.

"We were in the same boat," the second-year captain said of the Panthers. "They have a phenomenal team."

The Oilers saw that first-hand when they lost the 2024 final in seven games and then falling in six last June.

Unlike the previous defeat, Edmonton was more angered than disappointed with its performance. The gulf between combatants felt wider. The Panthers remain the NHL's standard.

"It's easier to dust yourself off and get going again," McDavid said. "Keep on rolling."

Until he inks a new contract, however, it could be tough for Oilers fans to focus on much else.

WATCH | Can the Canadiens meet high expectations?:

After years in a rebuild and on the heels of a surprise appearance in the playoffs last spring, the Habs head into the 2025-26 NHL season loaded up with raised expectations.

Crosby has two seasons left on his contract with Pittsburgh. The problem? The Penguins are nowhere close to contending.

"That's the hard part about losing," said Crosby, a three-time Cup winner who sits 13 points shy of becoming the ninth player in NHL history to reach 1,700. "It's the turnover, it's the unknown, the uncertainty, the question marks."

Ovechkin broke Wayne Gretzky's all-time goal mark of 894 last season with a dramatic march to the milestone. The Washington Capitals captain finished 2024-25 with 897 career goals, and probably won't wait long before hitting 900.

The biggest name changing addresses this off-season was Mitch Marner. The skilled winger bolted Toronto for Vegas following nine seasons. Nikolaj Ehlers, meanwhile, departed Winnipeg after a decade to sign with the Carolina Hurricanes.

The NHL will be back at the Olympics for the first time in 12 years in February. The league skipped the 2018 Games in South Korea for financial reasons and then pulled the plug on 2022 plans in China because of COVID-19 concerns.

A generation of star players, including McDavid, will lace up their skates on sports' biggest stage for the first time. The 38-year-old Crosby, meanwhile, will get a third crack after helping Canada win men's gold in 2010 and 2014.

"I like to think I'm an optimistic person," he said of getting another Olympic shot. "I tried to maintain hope that it would work out."