“Since sort of the beginning of the summer, we were going through things really methodically, and I thought it was important that Conor was able to take his time with things,” said Moldaver. “His intention, as he said publicly, privately, has always been one thing, and that’s to win a Stanley Cup as an Edmonton Oiler. He loves the fan base, the organization, his teammates.”

“I’m really proud of him,” Moldaver said. “I think we all know, a special talent, to say the least. But he’s a special person. Extremely intelligent, extremely thoughtful, a fantastic teammate, and a humble guy who wanted to do his best to find a deal construct that ultimately put himself and his teammates in the best position to win. And I think we achieved that.”

“I’ve heard Elliotte here, and many people say they’re shocked, they’re surprised, they’re stunned,” he said. “I guess I’m shocked and surprised and stunned that those who know Connor even from a distance, but follow the sport, are involved in the sport, have an idea of what he’s about.

“I found it more surprising than anything that people were so surprised.

“Every team and every player is in his own situation and that deal construct has to be curated to that player. And in this case, it was relatively elementary for us what was the best all-around fit, and this is just what he felt comfortable with, and it was pretty much that simple.”

“Exploring everything from a conceptual standpoint, it was trying to find the right math and the right term that most optimally acquiesced to Connor’s ability to win as an Oiler while maintaining to protect his individual value,” he said.

“With all due respect to the Oilers, who run a great organization, their team just wasn’t set up for us to ever really contemplate that. Connor wasn’t wired that way. We were wired in a way to take less than I think anyone was anticipating.”

“Connor is a player. He’s a really good one,” said Moldaver. “He’s not looking to be anything but a player. That said, when a player of his magnitude is coming to a contractual decision, I think the vision for the team, the strategy for the team, it’s paramount in that evaluation.

“I think it’s a blend between what a team has in the system at present, what the roster looks like, the type of players under contract, evaluating positional needs, and, you know, also taking some degree of a leap of faith that wherever deficiencies may or may not be, those get corrected.

“There’s been a lot of, I think, suggestion I’ve heard in the past that things have been done at Connor’s behest or his request, and again, with respect, it’s just not true.”

“All bets were off,” said Moldaver. “Those who forecasted that ‘he’s going to sign for sure’ or those who said he wasn’t, often people talk in opinion under the guise of fact, and what’s factual is he did not make a decision until essentially 24 hours or less than when he greenlit me to execute that decision. So everything was on the table.

“He could have entered the season not signing and again remained an Oiler. That was always the goal. It was just figuring out when that feeling of signing made sense.”