Confirmed Signing with Link: [EDM] F Leon Draisaitl signs extension with the Oilers (8 years, $14M AAV; begins 2025-26)

[notbias]

because it gets you Leon Draisaitl in his prime.

He's past his prime at 29...

 

[Coffey]

Why is the boards so quiet today @Beukeboom Fan @PromisedLand

lol What did they say?

 

[zar]

Fair market deal.

The last couple years will likely suck but I feel Drai’s game will age well.

$24m/$92m (estimated cap for 25/26) = 15.21% of Cap

MacKinnon 15.09% (8 years)
Matthews 15.06% (only 4 years)

 

[Siludin]

Solid deal.

 

[Three On Zero]

Only people complaining about this deal are non Edmonton fans. He's 28 right? Not 35. He's still got so many years of massive production on him, the end of the contract doesn't matter. They have a huge window if and when they sign McDavid and Bouchard. People can say look at the salary cap percentages but the top 2 earners are actually worth it.

It’s not a bad deal, it’s just market value. Doesn’t have the discount that was rumoured to occur. Will make things interesting for McDavid and Bouchard.

You have to wonder if the Gaudreau incident made these guys rethink the discount aspect as life can be short.

 

[ManofSteel55]

Why do you want a 35 year old Drai making 14 million?

Three reasons.

1) as someone else said, it gets us 29 - 33 year old Draisaitl

2) the cap is going up, and even though players are on their downside at 35, he will probably still be a good player. His cap hit will be a lower percentage of the overall cap hit by the time he is in his later years.

3) Letting Draisaitl walk ends our window of contention after this season, and probably would have led to McDavid leaving as a UFA too (which still could happen, but the odds of him re-signing go up with a re-signed Draisaitl).

 

[Oilslick941611]

He's past his prime at 29...

ok

 

[T REX]

No way Bouchard takes less than Nurse.

Drai @ $14 mill sounds about right.

McDavid should come in closer to $15 or so mill

That's just a lot of money tied up in 3/4 players. IMHO

But he's earned it, 100%.

 

[DingDongCharlie]

How ironic, every one laughed and said Draisaitl was gone right after this contract expired lolol. Now that he has signed and for 8 years at that the narrative changes and now its to much money and how can the oilers compete now. Next chance hf never change

This was expected. Same people too. If Oilers trade Draisaitl they will lose on value. Draisaitl won’t extend in Edmonton he’s good as gone. Or no way Edmonton can compete if he signs. Same people rolling 3 narratives at once.

Now we start the Oilers won’t be able to afford McDavid and Bouchard after Draisaitl extended. Who leaves next? Clearly it will be McDavid right HF?

 

[TheDoldrums]

You have to wonder if the Gaudreau incident made these guys rethink the discount aspect as life can be short.

wtf

 

[dukeofjive]

This is good for Edmonton and there fans, now the narrative went from won’t resign to that’s way too
Much money…

Congrats

 

[Mr Positive]

The last three years of this contract will hurt. Leon will be 35, 36 and 37 for most of those 3 years (October birthday).

A similar player (impact wise) is Patrick Kane. Imagine paying Kaner 14 million last year, this year and next? (November birthday).

Edit.....Just to clarify....I don't see any other option here for Edmonton. Drai is absolutely needed to compete for that Cup over the next 5 years. I just think it'll hurt in the end.

Draisaitl will be a good player in his later years. His game doesn't depend on skating. He's a smart player. As his offense diminishes, his defense will improve, which we have seen starting to happen already. Plus he is a physical beast like Iginla who will simply last longer.

Plus what will the cap percentage be in those years? Not that big a deal

 

[Nikolajs Sillers]

Leon ,you have a payday

 

[TurgPavs]

Nurse signed his contract, which was at 11.21% of the cap when he signed...
Bouchard is going to get at least that number (11.21%), and with the cap expected to hit 92/93 million next year, that number is going to be 10-11 million.
I would expect his agent to push for 11-12 mil.

 

[waitin425]

Draisaitl will be a good player in his later years. His game doesn't depend on skating. He's a smart player. As his offense diminishes, his defense will improve, which we have seen starting to happen already. Plus he is a physical beast like Iginla who will simply last longer.

Plus what will the cap percentage be in those years? Not that big a deal

Hey, I can't argue with ya. Drai is a beast no doubt. I would be worried towards the end, but alas, I am nowhere near having that problem (yet) with my team, given our lack of Drai level talent. Soak up the good news Oiler fans, this is a good day for you guys.

 

[Coffee]

He's past his prime at 29...

lol you’re being ridiculous

 

[Valhallis]

For this amount of money he better put in more effort at the next All-Star Game!

Kidding of course. Great length and super happy this isn't going to linger over the team during the season.

 

[missionAvs]

This is a fair deal IMO. You can even make the argument that Drai left some money on the table. Honestly it's not even an argument, this is what a long term discount looks like for a franchise player like Drai. Excellent for Oilers IMO.

 

[ManofSteel55]

No way Bouchard takes less than Nurse.

Drai @ $14 mill sounds about right.

McDavid should come in closer to $15 or so mill

That's just a lot of money tied up in 3/4 players. IMHO

But he's earned it, 100%.

If Bouchard takes more than Nurse, its because he has earned it and the market reflects it. I don't think its hard for teams to point out that a bad contract isn't the comparable to use for negotiating new contracts. There will be more recent contracts that they will use as comparables. If Bouchard's agent is smart, he will enter negotiations with Rasmus Dahlin, Erik Karlsson and Adam Fox as the comparables - they all make more than Nurse, and Bouchard's offensive output is likely to make them more comparable to Nurse anyway.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1830995084885520457

 

[BleedBlue14]

Oilers should be fine as long as they dont add anyone else.
They will have ~10M to sign Bouchard next season. Afterwards they can walk away from Kane, Arvidsson and Henrique replacing them with ELC forwards and give McDavid a 3M raise. (15.5M per)

McDavid, Draisiat; ,Hyman, Nuge, Nurse, Bouchard the core for next 4 seasons for combined ~60M

They need to hit on a few later round draft picks to fill out some depth.

I'd venture to guess there will be a constant flow of cup chasing vets coming in.

I think the struggle is always going to be filling out the rest of the top 4 of the defense and having a bottom 6 that is productive.

 

[notbias]

lol you’re being ridiculous

What age is a player's prime usually?

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

Certainly no discount, if the cap is 89M next year the % at the time of the signing is higher than any player I could find.

But it's in the 15%'s regardless and that's what all these superstars are getting, so it's a fair deal.

 

[Janvonpobben]

It’s a good deal.


Based on what

Based on him getting older

 

[LTIR]

No way Bouchard takes less than Nurse.

Drai @ $14 mill sounds about right.

McDavid should come in closer to $15 or so mill

That's just a lot of money tied up in 3/4 players. IMHO

But he's earned it, 100%.

Bouchard will be a RFA where Nurse was a pending UFA. Does he make more than Makar(9M), Hughes(7.8M) ?
Nurse really isn't a comparable but he will get his 9M+ if he continues to play top pairing minutes and put up points.