Connor McDavid just fueled a wild Montreal theory and fans can't stop talking about it
Marc-Olivier Beaudoin just dropped the kind of report that turns a quiet Sunday in Montreal into a full-blown frenzy around Connor McDavid.
Beaudoin reported this weekend that if McDavid ever decides to leave Edmonton, the Canadiens sit on his very short list of approved destinations.
Either by trade. Or as an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2028.
And here's the part that sent the city into orbit. McDavid didn't just come to Montreal for the Formula 1 Grand Prix in May.
He toured neighborhoods. Brossard. Westmount. The kind of stops you make when you're picturing a life somewhere, not when you're killing time before a race.
That detail changes the texture of the story. A Grand Prix visit is a vacation. A real estate scouting trip is something else entirely.
What the Oilers' first-round exit really set in motion
Context matters here. Edmonton lost in six games to Anaheim in Round 1, capped by a 5-2 loss on the road on April 30.
McDavid posted six points in that series, a -8 rating, and watched another spring end early after a 138-point regular season. That's the backdrop for everything Beaudoin is reporting.
The Canadiens, meanwhile, finished 48-24-10, sixth overall in the league, and went 7-3-0 over their final 10 games. This isn't a rebuild pitch anymore. It's a contender pitch.
The two clubs split the season series. Montreal lost 6-5 in Edmonton in October in a controversial way with referee Garrett Rank, then turned around and handed the Oilers a 4-1 beating at the Bell Centre on December 14.
McDavid saw the building. He saw the roster Kent Hughes built. He saw the noise. And then he went and walked through Westmount.
I've been told that if Connor McDavid ever wanted to leave Edmonton, the Canadiens would be on his very short list of teams he'd be willing to be traded to-or sign with if he becomes a free agent on July 1, 2028.
When he came to Montreal for the F1 Grand Prix, he took the opportunity to visit certain neighborhoods in Brossard and Westmount."
- Marc-Olivier Beaudoin
New York is reportedly the other team on the short list. The Rangers finished with 77 points. Make of that what you will.
The Canadiens have the young core, the cap runway over the next two summers, and now, apparently, the player's eye. Stan Bowman has until July 2028 to fix this. Or until McDavid stops fixing it for him.
Beaudoin is careful. He's not saying McDavid asked out. He's not saying a trade is coming. He's saying Montreal is in the conversation, and the player put boots on the ground to prove it.
Two and a half years is a long time. Long enough for a Cup run in Edmonton to rewrite the whole thing. Long enough for one bad October to crack it open.
But the visit happened. The neighborhoods got walked. The list got written. And the Canadiens are on it.
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YESTERDAY
MAY 29, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Taylor Hall | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Logan Stankoven | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Jackson Blake | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Seth Jarvis | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Cole Caufield | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Shayne Gostisbehere | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Eric Robinson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Sebastian Aho | - | 1 | 1 | |
| William Carrier | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nikolaj Ehlers | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Lane Hutson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Alexander Nikishin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Andrei Svechnikov | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Frederik Andersen | - | - | - | |
| Josh Anderson | - | - | - | |
| Zachary Bolduc | - | - | - | |
| Alexandre Carrier | - | - | - | |
| Jalen Chatfield | - | - | - | |
| Kirby Dach | - | - | - | |
| Phillip Danault | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||