Connor McDavid would 'hate' playing in Toronto for Leafs, reckons NHL analyst

With the preseason underway, Connor McDavid has yet to sign a contract extension with the Edmonton Oilers. The captain will be headed into free agency at the end of the season, but if the deadlock persists, the Oilers will be forced to trade him.

While McDavid's trade talks have recently emerged, due to his delaying the signing of a new deal, another Canadian superstar has had trade talks following him for a few years. Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby has been urged by the hockey media to leave the club because of their current lack of success.

On the "Kyper & Bourne" podcast's season opener on Monday, Nick Kypreos and Justin Bourne, alongside producer Sam McKee, discussed the possibilities of Sidney Crosby leaving the Pittsburgh Penguins and getting traded elsewhere.

Kypreos named the Montreal Canadiens, Colorado Avalanche and Los Angeles Kings as some of the teams that could be in contention. McKee also put the Toronto Maple Leafs into that bracket, to which Bourne had a hilarious reaction.

"Connor would hate it the most," Bourne said with a smile (45:30 onwards). "Sid would hate it the second most being here."

With a hint of seriousness, however, McKee commented that the Leafs have a strong window of opportunity in the next few years to win a Stanley Cup before Crosby turns 40.

"If you look around, there aren't a lot of teams that like perfectly match up with his window as much as Toronto does," McKee added. "But I don't think he'd do it."

While he agreed with McKee, Kypreos felt that if the Penguins and the Oilers were to trade their superstars, they would be answerable to their season ticket holders.

"You cannot embarrass the season ticket holders," Kypreos said. "If you're going to go back to them and say, 'We had to do this because we're protecting the future.' You've got to get something back for them. It cannot be a strict giveaway. It can't.

"And although Sid can dictate so much of it as Connor can in Edmonton, they can pick their own spot, and they can force trades, and with the pressure of the league behind Crosby and McDavid, they're going to get whatever they want. But you cannot embarrass their teams on the return."

If the Leafs were to sign either Crosby or Connor McDavid, it would require a massive swap of players and draft picks. In all likelihood, McDavid's trade will be considered as huge as Wayne Gretzky's trade to the Los Angeles Kings back in 1988.

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Sidney Crosby has a 'slight chance' of joining Connor McDavid at Edmonton reckons The Athletic

While Sidney Crosby to the Leafs will continue to be pushed as a possibility, The Athletic reckons that if a trade were on the horizon, the Edmonton Oilers would also have an equal chance at getting the Canadian veteran onto their lineup.

"The Oilers are a Cup contender with arguably the two best players in the league. If Crosby wants to go hunting for a fourth title, there aren’t many better places to go in the short term than Edmonton," the Athletic wrote.

Both the Leafs and the Oilers were given a slight chance, while the Canadiens and the 2x Stanley Cup defending champions, the Florida Panthers, were given the best chances. However, for anything to materialize, Crosby would first have to consent to waive his no-move clause with the Pens.