$1.8B franchise 'makes lot more sense' than Maple Leafs as Connor McDavid's next landing spot, per analysts - "Similar to LeBron James going to Heat"

Connor McDavid has picked up just about every individual accolade that exists in the game of hockey. He's won Art Ross Trophies, Hart Trophies, Ted Lindsay Awards, a Rocket Richard, and even a Conn Smythe Trophy. All that's left to win is the Stanley Cup, but it's the one thing that continues to elude him.

McDavid and the Oilers once again had to watch as the Florida Panthers celebrated a championship at Amerant Bank Arena. The future of the Oilers captain has not been talked about too much, but after another finals defeat, those conversations have gotten louder.

On Wednesday, Matt Murley of Spittin' Chiclets shared a rumor about Connor McDavid going to the Tampa Bay Lightning, worth $1.8 billion per Forbes. On Friday, he, Mike Grinelli, and Colby Armstrong dove deeper into the possibility.

"There wasn't much detail. Just said that it was a rumor. I mean, it makes a lot of sense. He's got to be so sick of this media up in Canada, like, all these guys are. A team from Florida—that's what, they've won the cup four of the last six times, or something? Or they've been in the finals five of the last six... Well, that makes a lot more sense than Toronto because everybody's been saying Toronto. Who wants to go deal with that media?" Murley said.

"I had them; I think I had them winning this year. If we go back to when Florida won, Tkachuk was asked about their run and what it was like, and he specifically mentioned Tampa Bay as being, like, their hardest. I know they went seven with Toronto, but he specifically said they had to be ready to go out the gates against Tampa. And Tampa was kind of dialing up for this epic run," Armstrong said.

"It is similar to LeBron going to the Heat, like the Heat won in 08, or 07, or something, 06? And LeBron went four or five years later. It's like Tampa won four, four years ago, and now McDavid's going there, leaving the small market and going to the warm, tax-friendly state," Grinelli added.

McDavid is entering the final season of the eight-year, $100,000,000 contract extension he signed with the Oilers in 2018.

Connor McDavid does have some connections to the Tampa Bay Lightning

The idea of Connor McDavid going to Tampa Bay seems crazy on the surface, but it does make some sense the more you think about it.

The Lightning have shown the ability to win, which is McDavid's main focus. And the 28-year-old just had great success under Jon Cooper and alongside Brayden Point, Brandon Hagel, and Anthony Cirelli playing for Team Canada at the 4 Nations.

How general manager Julien BriseBois would be able to acquire Connor McDavid and extend him to keep the Lightning under the salary cap is the main issue they would have to deal with.