Edmonton only has one more year of Connor McDavid and the Maple Leafs must play the waiting game

After a shocking elimination at the hands of the Anaheim Ducks during this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs, Connor McDavid admitted that the team was not good enough and that they had a lot of work to do after taking a pretty big step back.

His candid assessment of the team didn't help things, and with only one year left on his contract it's pretty much do or die for the Oilers next year. They may go through a coaching change, they certainly need some better goaltending and an onus on keeping McDavid happy are all going to be priorities that can't be overlooked.

But with him still having a year to figure things out, another team who is also playing the waiting game with their own captain is the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Although the team holds the first overall pick, that may not be enough to convince Matthews to stick around.

So if they were hoping to perhaps do a Matthews for McDavid swap in free agency, they may not actually need to wait that long however it truly depends on Edmonton's trajectory - at least Frank Seravalli thinks so:

It would be an absolute monster deal to have McDavid traded away, but when the Oilers are handcuffed, they may need to break those chains.

If Toronto hears word that McDavid is not going to entertain an extension then you'd think they need to be on the phone ASAP. Throw everything you can at them except your draft pick this season, give them Matthews or Nylander, maybe Matthew Knies; whatever it takes.

Not necessarily, as they can simply wait things out. If McDavid says he wants out, he also holds full trade protection. So he can honestly just play until the summer and focus solely on getting that incredible pay day we expect.

Spending a ton of assets in addition to needing to pay him handsomely is going to only hurt their future prospects, so it's best to wait around and see if he's available on July 1.

A lot of money, that's for sure. If there's a world where he makes $20-million per season then 2028 is most likely then. If McDavid has another 130-point season, or somehow makes a real push for 150+ then he's deserved every penny.

But that also means that Toronto needs to make sure they don't have dead money around and frankly, hope Auston Matthews wants to leave.

If Matthews wants $16-17M per year for his next deal, then there is no way they can afford McDavid without seriously hindering the rest of their roster. With contracts like Matthew Knies, Chris Tanev and Jake McCabe still on the books too - it's hard to afford things.

This year has a lot to do with if McDavid comes in as well, because if GM John Chayka and company want to add some big name free agents like Darren Raddysh or Alex Tuch then it's going to be even more of a crunch to bring in the Edmonton captain.

Toronto has to decide now if they want to risk waiting for McDavid in a year and buying in now to keep Matthews happy until then, or if they want to splurge on the world's best player and say goodbye to #34.

One way or another, Connor McDavid won't come cheap and Toronto has to be willing to pay the price either financially or through losing their beloved captain.

Also read on Hockey Patrol :
Shortly after Chayka said defense is the priority a Maple Leafs defensive prospect signed in Sweden instead