Questions loom for Edmonton Oilers, even with Connor McDavid extension

The Oilers addressed their biggest concern heading into the 2025-26 season by signing superstar captain Connor McDavid to a short-term extension.

But for a team that reached the Stanley Cup final the past two seasons, Edmonton still heads into the campaign with a surprising number of question marks.

None of the questions surrounding goaltending, depth, defence or McDavid's linemates are new, and they linger over the team even after McDavid signed a two-year, $25-million US extension on Monday.

At $12.5 million, the annual average value of McDavid's contract is lower than teammate Leon Draisaitl's $14 million.

General manager Stan Bowman said the amount was what McDavid wanted. The captain is more interested in winning the Stanley Cup.

"It's obvious what he wants, he wants to win," Bowman said, adding his focus now is to win sooner rather than later.

"We're not trying to build this up to be good down the road. We want to win now."

Much like last season, when they reached and lost the Stanley Cup final to Florida for a second straight year, how the Oilers deal with the other issues will go a long way in determining if they can make it a third consecutive final appearance.

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"Everything has to go right. For everything to go right you have to build and become a good, solid team and be able to win different ways, special teams, five-on-five play, goaltending, all those things have to fall into place," said head coach Kris Knoblauch, who himself signed a three-year extension before the start of the season.

"We're at a great starting point, we've got a great team, a lot of good players, if things go right we will have that opportunity. But to say it will just happen is a