Confirmed with Link: Draisaitl re-signs 8y 8.5M AAV

[Bangers]

I think you'd easily be paying $10M+ in a couple of years if Drai keeps up his play and the cap keeps going up.

And if he deserves it, then give it to him. It would cost more in the long run, but:
a) he would have proven he is a legit star C that can carry his own line;
b) the team will (possibly) have freed up extra salary by then; and
c) a long term deal at that point would take up more of his UFA years.

 

[Zaddy]

Last question, Leon: when will you be heading back to North America?

I'll stay in Prague with my fitness coach until the end of August and will come back to Cologne then for a short stay and will fly back to Edmonton in early September.

Is Leon fluent in czech too? Second summer he spends there. Obviously his father was born there but still, interesting to see him spending so much time in Czech Republic. Or is his coach fluent in german? I know many czech people talk german too.

 

[Paralyzer]

I love how people want players to 'prove' themselves they are worth the money but forget if that player plays at the same level or better, they will demand MORE money. I remember the boards complaining about the Malkin deal because he 'wasn't proven to play by himself' and 'it's all Crosby that makes him who he is today", yet he's played extremely well by himself. Why can't Draisaitl do the same? He's done it in the WHL, Memorial Cup, International Stage, World Cup, and the Playoffs, yet people STILL want to disprove he can play without McDavid. Just sick of the banter here. BE HAPPY HE'S HERE FOR 8 YEARS! What else can we ask for?

It's like the over-spoiled kids at Christmas that get the biggest and best toy for Christmas, yet they want MORE.

 

[Gord]

When money gets that high. People get pxxxs envy. Totally fine with the money and term. Especially with the two swedes at a great price.

the people who don't like the contract are not jealous because of the millions he is getting paid while we are not.

we're just concerned that overspending on any contract can hamper the team in retaining players or bringing in a better quality depth player.

do I have to suck it up? of course I do, as the deal is done and it is what it is. doesn't mean I'm not disappointed that the amount the oilers are paying isn't at least $500,000 lower.

love the player, but while you're fine with the salary, I'm not. that's all.
I don't trust chia to be able to manage the cap and field a team that can win the cup.
hope I'm wrong.

 

[GMofOilers]

Haha, opposing fans (especially Flames fans) are so salty. "OH HE'S OVERPAID" "WELCOME TO CAP HELL"

Who cares!\... we have McDavid and Draisaitl locked up for 8 years during their prime years! A few million dollars could be wasted somewhere else... we spent it on absolute studs.

This should be noted and is the most important quote in this whole discussion.

 

[McJadeddog]

How many sophmores get 51pts as a 19yr old. I'd say two good years too!

yeah i absolutely HATE this deal, and in no way whatsoever do i believe that drai is a top-10 player in the game (not even close).... but you have to admit that he has had 2 good seasons... 51 points as a 20 year old is pretty impressive (he was 20 for the vast majority of that season, being born in october)

 

[Maverick41]

He knows how to say the right things. If he lives up to it, both the Oilers and Leon should be fine.

https://www.fanragsports.com/nhl/leon-draisaitl-think-much-upside/

For me, it was clear all along - for me the real work starts now. I think I have much more to give. I can take another few steps in the direction that I want to be in, and that's the player that I want to be.

Also, with the team, I think we're heading in the right direction.

I think I have much more upside and I know that and that's what I'm working on in the summer, said the talented forward. I'm trying to get better. Just trying to be the player that I want to be eventually. I want to be a guy that the whole team - the whole organization - can depend on. I'm going to go out and try to play my best every night.

I want to be a player that can play the physical style, that can skate and accelerate... he noted. I've been really working on every aspect and trying to get stronger, so so far it's been a good summer.

 

[CupofOil]

Crosby signed his new contract like 2 years ago, and gave up all UFA years. Like seriously this is probably one of the worst contracts in the league. We could have done a bridge and got him at the same number in 2 years after KNOWING he's a top line centerman and not a 1 year wonder. You'd think these guys would have learned after the RNH and Sam Gagner fiasco's.

A couple of things. Crosby signed his deal 5 years ago under a completely different CBA. He gets 12M+ if he signs today and more likely closer to the 15M max.

If you sign Drai to a 2 year bridge and he puts up 70+ points for the next 2 seasons, he gets 10M+ easy as the market and cap will likely be inflated by that time, you're buying more UFA years and with Drai having three 70+ seasons under his belt.

Also, this isn't like RNH and Gagner. Drai has an elite skillset, his vision is the elite of the elite (I can only think of a handful of players who have better vision) he's big and strong, has underrated defensive instincts and he's ultra-competitive so I doubt that we see regression from him over the duration of the contract.

I'm not a big fan of the contract because I feel like Chia rushed this and could have gotten him down to a more reasonable number had he waited him out until the regular season but to call this one of the worst contracts in the league before it even kicks in is a tad hyperbolic.

It was inevitable with two elite talents like McDavid and Drai that the Oilers were going to be in a cap crunch at some point. Granted, I didn't envision it being 21M between the two of them going into the offseason but such is life when you have elite talents. I'd rather have 21M invested in those two than 21M invested into much weaker players.

 

[Gordian Knot]

Just happy to see Leon is resigned. AAV isn't problem at all. We need to be good at the center and can have cheaper vets and ELC players on the wings.

 

[Aceboogie]

That's more of a...Shelbyville idea.

Agreed, they played hardball with Gaudreau and took him in the season to sign a deal. He had one of his worst seasons and I see alot of Flames fans say "well he started late into camp". That had a ripple effect on a horrible start, which led to them getting Anahiem in rd 1 and embarrassingly swept. Not to mention how often Gaudreau says to media how much he wants to play in Philly. There is undoubtedly a rift caused by that contract stand off. Sure they saved by 500K but they lost a year of good Gaudreau and caused a rift between him and franchise

Could the Oilers have gotten 8M or little less with Draisaitl had they dragged this out? Sure, but then you risk him coming out poorly and your season being put in jeopardy

 

[rboomercat90]

lol, Horcoff has no where near the skill that Draisaitl does. Without McDavid, Leon had a solid 51 point sophomore season (prorates to 58 points if he played the entire season).

He is going to be in the Kopitar/Sedin/Getzlaf tier of center ... if not for McDavid, Draisaitl would likely be the best Oiler forward since Doug Weight.

He was lights out one of the best players at the World Cup of Hockey tournament and was frankly better than McDavid in the playoffs.

Horcoff was a better Mark Letestu.

Horcoff is a much better comparison to Letestu than Draisatl. Hemsky drove Horcoff's line. When Hemsky was hurt (and it happened a lot), Horcoff's offence dried up pretty quickly. Both Horcoff and Letestu had the hockey sense to get in the right spots to take advantage of their opportunities but that's the ceiling of their skill sets. Draisatl makes things happen on his own. Just a ridiculous comparison for those that believe it.

 

[rboomercat90]

I love how people want players to 'prove' themselves they are worth the money but forget if that player plays at the same level or better, they will demand MORE money. I remember the boards complaining about the Malkin deal because he 'wasn't proven to play by himself' and 'it's all Crosby that makes him who he is today", yet he's played extremely well by himself. Why can't Draisaitl do the same? He's done it in the WHL, Memorial Cup, International Stage, World Cup, and the Playoffs, yet people STILL want to disprove he can play without McDavid. Just sick of the banter here. BE HAPPY HE'S HERE FOR 8 YEARS! What else can we ask for?

It's like the over-spoiled kids at Christmas that get the biggest and best toy for Christmas, yet they want MORE.

The main headline should have been that McDavid and Draisatl will be Oilers together for the next 8 years. As a fan who lived through watching all the dynasty players leave, nothing is more important to me than knowing these guys will be spending the prime of their careers here. Money is secondary, the rest will work itself out.

 

[MoontoScott]

Well, Drai has re-signed as expected.

IMHO the easy part was in re-signing Mac-D and Drai, it came in at a total of 21M per season which is right about where everyone expected it to be +-5%.

Now comes the real challenge and that is managing the salary cap.

Between Mac-D, Drai, RNH and Lucic the team has committed 33M per season or about 45% of the current cap to 4 players (for at least the next 4 years) and 2 of these contracts (RNH and Lucic) are questionable in terms of quality.

That will be a real challenge going forward with so many other guys looking for raises in the next 3 years. Now Chia will really have to earn his money.

 

[Deplorable Lenny]

A couple of things. Crosby signed his deal 5 years ago under a completely different CBA. He gets 12M+ if he signs today and more likely closer to the 15M max.

If you sign Drai to a 2 year bridge and he puts up 70+ points for the next 2 seasons, he gets 10M+ easy as the market and cap will likely be inflated by that time, you're buying more UFA years and with Drai having three 70+ seasons under his belt.

Also, this isn't like RNH and Gagner. Drai has an elite skillset, his vision is the elite of the elite (I can only think of a handful of players who have better vision) he's big and strong, has underrated defensive instincts and he's ultra-competitive so I doubt that we see regression from him over the duration of the contract.

I'm not a big fan of the contract because I feel like Chia rushed this and could have gotten him down to a more reasonable number had he waited him out until the regular season but to call this one of the worst contracts in the league before it even kicks in is a tad hyperbolic.

It was inevitable with two elite talents like McDavid and Drai that the Oilers were going to be in a cap crunch at some point. Granted, I didn't envision it being 21M between the two of them going into the offseason but such is life when you have elite talents. I'd rather have 21M invested in those two than 21M invested into much weaker players.

Agree on every single point here. Good Job.

 

[PaPaDee]

Well, Drai has re-signed as expected.

IMHO the easy part was in re-signing Mac-D and Drai, it came in at a total of 21M per season which is right about where everyone expected it to be +-5%.

Now comes the real challenge and that is managing the salary cap.

Between Mac-D, Drai, RNH and Lucic the team has committed 33M per season or about 45% of the current cap to 4 players (for at least the next 4 years) and 2 of these contracts (RNH and Lucic) are questionable in terms of quality.

That will be a real challenge going forward with so many other guys looking for raises in the next 3 years. Now Chia will really have to earn his money.

It's obvious that McDavid & Drai will be our core players to build around. Going forward, we won't be dipping into free agency much, except for depth/cheaper players. And I'm guess most of our RFA's will be signed to bridge deals to keep their costs lower.

I also don't think the Lucic contract is questionable. I think he does have more he can bring to the table, but the 50+ points, physicality and leadership qualities he brings makes him a solid top 6 contributor.

RNH however, is going to need to bring more to make his contract worthwhile.

 

[ohheyhemsky]

lol, Horcoff has no where near the skill that Draisaitl does. Without McDavid, Leon had a solid 51 point sophomore season (prorates to 58 points if he played the entire season).

He is going to be in the Kopitar/Sedin/Getzlaf tier of center ... if not for McDavid, Draisaitl would likely be the best Oiler forward since Doug Weight.

He was lights out one of the best players at the World Cup of Hockey tournament and was frankly better than McDavid in the playoffs.

Horcoff was a better Mark Letestu.

I wasn't comparing him to Horcoff.

 

[Eytinge]

love the player, but while you're fine with the salary, I'm not. that's all.
I don't trust chia to be able to manage the cap and field a team that can win the cup.
hope I'm wrong.

Same. Chia has never shown the ability to manage the cap effectively IMO. If we had a more cap savvy GM I'd be less concerned but this summer has lessened my confidence in him. And also frustrated that other teams get their young studs to sign for 6 or 7 million and we have to pay a higher premium (Mcdavid excluding as he's in a class of his own).

 

[McDraekke]

I love how people want players to 'prove' themselves they are worth the money but forget if that player plays at the same level or better, they will demand MORE money. I remember the boards complaining about the Malkin deal because he 'wasn't proven to play by himself' and 'it's all Crosby that makes him who he is today", yet he's played extremely well by himself. Why can't Draisaitl do the same? He's done it in the WHL, Memorial Cup, International Stage, World Cup, and the Playoffs, yet people STILL want to disprove he can play without McDavid. Just sick of the banter here. BE HAPPY HE'S HERE FOR 8 YEARS! What else can we ask for?

It's like the over-spoiled kids at Christmas that get the biggest and best toy for Christmas, yet they want MORE.

Likening people who are preaching caution and statistical analysis to children is more ridiculous than the people who upset about this deal.

I love Drai, and I'm happy that he's an Oiler for 8 more years. That said, I'm a bit hesitant to say this is a great contract due to how many times this kind of thing has bitten us in the ass. Nuge and Eberle are on large contracts that destroyed their values because they aren't worth the money they are getting paid. Just because I'm wary of doing the same with Draisaitl shouldn't make it OK to judge me and call me names.

And a better simile about Christmas would be that we are over-spoiled kids with irresponsible parents who ends up getting a brand new gaming system and all the accouterments that comes with it and then being worried that Mom and Dad can't pay the power bill, or worried that the gaming system isn't going to be worth putting them into the poor house.

 

[Aceboogie]

I love Drai, and I'm happy that he's an Oiler for 8 more years. That said, I'm a bit hesitant to say this is a great contract due to how many times this kind of thing has bitten us in the ass. Nuge and Eberle are on large contracts that destroyed their values because they aren't worth the money they are getting paid. Just because I'm wary of doing the same with Draisaitl shouldn't make it OK to judge me and call me names.

.

I wouldnt even say either "destroyed" their value with their 6mil contracts though. I mean if Eberle was at 4mil do you think hes getting much more than Strome? Maybe a pick or something on top

The theory about signing young players to long contracts is essentially an insurance strategy. Some will work out and others wont, but the ones that do will make up for the ones that didnt. For example, Hall at 6mil is a major steal and probably a 2 mil per year discount. Eberle and RNH overpaid by 1 mil each. Back at that time theres no way you can sign Hall long term then go to 36 goal Eberle and say "nah were bridging ya bud". They got 3 guys locked up for 18 mil total, and at that time they were studs. Hall would continue to explode with PPG years and Eberle would still be a 25 goal scorer

You try and pick and chose who gets long term deals and who gets bridged and you likely get burnt.

Likewise, Chiarelli signed Klefbom long term after seeing him for 30 games and that deal looks insane. Then he followed up with McDavid, and Draisaitl all with long term deals. The total sum of his long terms deals for his young studs will be good. Some individual contracts may be worse than others tho, but gotta look at the sum

 

[McDNicks17]

Same. Chia has never shown the ability to manage the cap effectively IMO. If we had a more cap savvy GM I'd be less concerned but this summer has lessened my confidence in him. And also frustrated that other teams get their young studs to sign for 6 or 7 million and we have to pay a higher premium (Mcdavid excluding as he's in a class of his own).

It's almost like Chia has to pay more for the younger, better player.

 

[Gord]

nothing is more important to me than knowing these guys will be spending the prime of their careers here. Money is secondary, the rest will work itself out.

see that's the attitude I can't fathom.
you just can't say "money is secondary, the rest will work itself out."
there is a salary cap. If you just throw money around and hope it will work itself out you'll likely be screwed.

you sound like the Justin trudeau of the board.
remember when he said
"the commitment needs to be a commitment to grow the economy and the budget will balance itself"?

maybe we can change that to "the commitment needs to be a commitment to grow the team and the salary cap will take care of itself"

not meaning to dig at you personally, but the oilers really have to watch the dimes and nickels, and I think they paid at least $500,000 too much. it all adds up.

 

[McDraekke]

I wouldnt even say either "destroyed" their value with their 6mil contracts though. I mean if Eberle was at 4mil do you think hes getting much more than Strome? Maybe a pick or something on top

The theory about signing young players to long contracts is essentially an insurance strategy. Some will work out and others wont, but the ones that do will make up for the ones that didnt. For example, Hall at 6mil is a major steal and probably a 2 mil per year discount. Eberle and RNH overpaid by 1 mil each. Back at that time theres no way you can sign Hall long term then go to 36 goal Eberle and say "nah were bridging ya bud". They got 3 guys locked up for 18 mil total, and at that time they were studs. Hall would continue to explode with PPG years and Eberle would still be a 25 goal scorer

You try and pick and chose who gets long term deals and who gets bridged and you likely get burnt.

Likewise, Chiarelli signed Klefbom long term after seeing him for 30 games and that deal looks insane. Then he followed up with McDavid, and Draisaitl all with long term deals. The total sum of his long terms deals for his young studs will be good. Some individual contracts may be worse than others tho, but gotta look at the sum

Yes, I do think Eberle at 4M would be worth much more than just an add-on pick to Strome. That's not the point, though.

Using the ideology that "you win some, you lose some" is a really ****** way to run an organization. Any organization. That just means you're not very good at your job, or the industry is built on such unstable grounds that you have no other choice than to live by that rule.

There are some teams in the NHL that don't hand out large contracts to relatively unproven assets. Argue all you want about Drai' vision and passing ability, he still hasn't shown enough outside of playing with two all-stars and a playoff series in which the majority of shutdown/checking pressure was put on a different player. I don't think that Drai is going to bust, I am just wary about him not living up to 8.5M, which ultimately leads to fans starting to use him as a scapegoat when things go poorly. And then **** starts to go nuts with fans and media running players out of town. It's happened before, it will happen again. Hopefully not to Drai, but who knows? None of us, yet.

We're all happy and fine with saying "oh so what if it's an overpayment, we have him for 8 years!!"... yeah... think about that statement for a minute and think about what it means if he under-performs throughout the entire contract.

Again, I'm happy he's signed. I'm just holding on to my excitement until he shows that he is worth it without playing with McDavid, which he almost certainly will need to in order to make our team a contender.

 

[tempest2i]

I shouldn't be, but I am a bit shocked at how many people around here are disappointed that the Oilers didn't try harder to **** Leon over to save a few dollars.

Having a *********gy cheapskate for a GM/owner poses more risk for the long-term success of this team than overpaying your core players.

I'd much rather have players that want to be here and are paid a fair salary, than players that are slightly less expensive but hate the GM and want to leave town for a team that'll treat them better.

 

[GMofOilers]

see that's the attitude I can't fathom.
you just can't say "money is secondary, the rest will work itself out."
there is a salary cap. If you just throw money around and hope it will work itself out you'll likely be screwed.

you sound like the Justin trudeau of the board.
remember when he said
"the commitment needs to be a commitment to grow the economy and the budget will balance itself"?

maybe we can change that to "the commitment needs to be a commitment to grow the team and the salary cap will take care of itself"

not meaning to dig at you personally, but the oilers really have to watch the dimes and nickels, and I think they paid at least $500,000 too much. it all adds up.

Signing McDavid and Drai to contracts a little high, is way better then signing bottom 6 players a little high. We are spending to the cap no matter what, hell when we finished 30th place we were a cap team. The cap will continue to go up every year.

We are set here now with 2 elite players signed, and top 4 dmen signed. Every good team is in cap hell, its something that is over exaggerated. The most important part of this organization going forward will be drafting.

 

[bucks_oil]

see that's the attitude I can't fathom.
you just can't say "money is secondary, the rest will work itself out."
there is a salary cap. If you just throw money around and hope it will work itself out you'll likely be screwed.

you sound like the Justin trudeau of the board.
remember when he said
"the commitment needs to be a commitment to grow the economy and the budget will balance itself"?

maybe we can change that to "the commitment needs to be a commitment to grow the team and the salary cap will take care of itself"

not meaning to dig at you personally, but the oilers really have to watch the dimes and nickels, and I think they paid at least $500,000 too much. it all adds up.

Errmmm... not sure I buy your analogy.

If one does successfully grow an economy, then there is increased tax revenues available to the gov't. That could theoretically balance the budget... it's an investment with an imperfect risk profile (investing to grow an economy doesn't guarantee a return) but a potentially direct effect.

On the flip side, "growing the team" has no direct effect on the salary cap. I mean an exciting dynamic duo on one team in the league might draw more fans/league revenue, but its hardly a direct or even predictable effect.