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

[thegazelle]

I'm an Oilers fan, but boy, 14 mil a year is steep.

 

[Sniper99]

He helped his team lose the finals too... what's your point?

Just a reminder, your team hasnt seen a cup final in 57 years. Matthews leads the Leafs to a disappearing act in the 1st round. Helluva magician.

Sit this one out kid.

 

[I Hate Philadelphia]

who wants elite players when you can have cap space instead

Tell me I did not just see someone refer to Nurse as an "elite player".

 

[Sniper99]

This also probably confirms McDavid, assuming he re-signs, gets at least 16M. Bouchard should end up somewhere around 10M.

So roughly 50M between McDavid, Draisaitl, Bouchard, & Nurse. That'll be fun.

It'll be fun to watch. Connor Zary wont be anywhere near this level of fun to watch.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Tell me I did not just see someone refer to Nurse as an "elite player".

you didn't

 

[MoreMogilny]

Man it’s always great when a player of Draisaitl’s calibre re-signs. $14M is the right neighbourhood but whether you think he’s overpaid marginally or not really doesn’t matter. Edmonton gets to retain at worst a top 5 forward in the league.

I’d be pretty pumped. There’s no guarantee any team in this league will win a Cup. But now they’ve got the guarantee that one of the best players in the league will help them take a swing at it for an additional 8 years. I’d take that any day.

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

That's a no from me, Draisaitl might be the best player in the deal, although I'd argue Norris winning D-men are harder to come by.
I'd argue Hughes-Draisaitl is a wash. So JT Miller and Thatcher Demko for Nurse... , Draisaitl does not move the needle enough in what we would be losing, hell I'd even say no if it was McDavid and Nurse.

I know a bunch of folks are busting your chops on QH/LD being a wash - but if you look at it from trade value and not a straight player comparison I think you have a case. 24 YO Norris Trophy winning d-man on a great contract is pretty damn valuable.

 

[LOFIN]

It would be pretty tough for teams to clear 15 million in cap space.

Yet pretty much everyone who even had a remote chance of doing it, would be trying to pull it off.

Players of his caliber have never hit the open market in this era. Panarin is the closest one.

 

[canuckster19]

I know a bunch of folks are busting your chops on QH/LD being a wash - but if you look at it from trade value and not a straight player comparison I think you have a case. 24 YO Norris Trophy winning d-man on a great contract is pretty damn valuable.

Edmonton fans... so no worries, but thanks for the comment.

 

[Cup or Bust]

Man it’s always great when a player of Draisaitl’s calibre re-signs. $14M is the right neighbourhood but whether you think he’s overpaid marginally or not really doesn’t matter. Edmonton gets to retain at worst a top 5 forward in the league.

I’d be pretty pumped. There’s no guarantee any team in this league will win a Cup. But now they’ve got the guarantee that one of the best players in the league will help them take a swing at it for an additional 8 years. I’d take that any day.

I agree, I would too and it's also great to see elite players stay with the same team throughout their careers. It's great for a franchise and great for their fans as well.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

It must suck to have the NHL gift your team with all these top-5 picks and they still can't win a Cup.

funny coming from a franchise that disappointed every year in the Thornton-Marleau-Pavelski era

 

[Idiot Stick]

Talking about his play as an individual. He wasn't particularly great.

2nd in conn smythe voting and a selke winner

Thats why we call him Bumkov, loser cant do a thing

 

[notbias]

Just a reminder, your team hasnt seen a cup final in 57 years. Matthews leads the Leafs to a disappearing act in the 1st round. Helluva magician.

Sit this one out kid.

Why do people approaching death call other people kids like it is an insult?

Yes, I am much more alive and youthful than you, thank you.

I don't care about the last time my team won the cup... yes it is longer than when your team did... both teams have not won for a long time.

You are bragging about a player helping their team win some rounds, I am just pointing out that he was a big contributor to the finals and their loss, no need to get upset.

 

[CanadienShark]

2nd in conn smythe voting and a selke winner

Thats why we call him Bumkov, loser cant do a thing

You seemingly lost the plot here. The poster was knocking Draisaitl for his finals performance. Selke is entirely regular season - not at all relevant here. Conn Smythe is the entirety of the playoffs, not one round.

 

[Frank Drebin]

It must suck to have the NHL gift your team with all these top-5 picks and they still can't win a Cup.

I have never heard that one before. Let me get back to you in 12 years with a reply.

 

[Three On Zero]

That's a no from me, Draisaitl might be the best player in the deal, although I'd argue Norris winning D-men are harder to come by.
I'd argue Hughes-Draisaitl is a wash. So JT Miller and Thatcher Demko for Nurse... , Draisaitl does not move the needle enough in what we would be losing, hell I'd even say no if it was McDavid and Nurse.

I wouldn’t even do Hughes for Draisaitl straight across. Hughes has proven to be a #1D whereas Draisaitl still has questions around how he could perform away from McDavid and likely doesn’t substantially improve the current Miller/Pettersson duo. Then it’s arguably the worst contract in the league for Miller and Demko?

 

[jackjohnson]

Our depth is better this year though. At least up front. On the back end it’s probably slightly thinner but there’s still a season to play out and a deadline.

Up front is a slight improvement because you guys did lose Foegelle, Holloway and will probably lose Kane too. But defense is a big downgrade losing Broberg, Ceci and Deharnais. They probably are not top pairing dmen but they are decent depth dmen. Their defense will be tested throughout the season and a big concern would be how to fill a void on D if injury occurs.

Bouchard-Eckholm
Nurse-Stecher
Kulak-???

Not too sure about that, especially stecher playing with Nurse on top 4. They would need another top 4 D and another bottom pairing D to get to last years level in terms of defense. Canucks have also improved on offense and will be harder to defend against especially with additions of DeBrusk, Heinen, Sprong, Sherwood while only losing Lindholm. The gritty forwards will certainly test oilers backend especially with little stecher playing on the top 4.

 

[canuckster19]

I wouldn’t even do Hughes for Draisaitl straight across. Hughes has proven to be a #1D whereas Draisaitl still has questions around how he could perform away from McDavid and likely doesn’t substantially improve the current Miller/Pettersson duo. Then it’s arguably the worst contract in the league for Miller and Demko?

Neither would I, but you gotta throw Edmonton fans a bone you know, look at what happens when you call something a wash with Draisaitl, imagine if I had said what you did, lol.

 

[MessierII]

Up front is a slight improvement because you guys did lose Foegelle, Holloway and will probably lose Kane too. But defense is a big downgrade losing Broberg, Ceci and Deharnais. They probably are not top pairing dmen but they are decent depth dmen. Their defense will be tested throughout the season and a big concern would be how to fill a void on D if injury occurs.

Bouchard-Eckholm
Nurse-Stecher
Kulak-???

Not too sure about that, especially stecher playing with Nurse on top 4. They would need another top 4 D and another bottom pairing D to get to last years level in terms of defense. Canucks have also improved on offense and will be harder to defend against especially with additions of DeBrusk, Heinen, Sprong, Sherwood while only losing Lindholm. The gritty forwards will certainly test oilers backend especially with little stecher playing on the top 4.

Arvidsson and skinner are on a completely different planet than foegele and Holloway. We gained two legitimate top 6 forwards and lost two bottom 6ers. The more effective playoff bottom 6ers namely Janmark, Henrique and Brown were all retained. The forward group is way better it’s the best in the league by far.

On D your forgetting about Emberson is a young right D with good defensive numbers. He may very well be better than broberg.

 

[Slats432]

Draisaitl is a power forward / elite sniper, power forwards usually start declining after 30 whereas smaller skilled players seem to excel in their later years a bit more.

I don't know if I see it this way. I will be far more worried about small speedy players that get less speedy. Power forwards deteriorate due to injury but guys who don't build their game around speed can hang around a long time. Draisaitl is more like a Thornton, Doan, etc stylistically. Most of the GP leaders career among forwards is the power forward type.

 

[centipede2233]

Edmonton had no,choice, but they will need to ship out nurse and Kane if they want to accommodate the 3 big raises and compete for a cup

 

[Half Clapper]

No way they can have quality depth for only 40 mil. How will they sign 18 players for 40 million? Assuming Nurse, Drai, McDavid and Bouchard account for the rest. The rising cap also means depth players want to make more not less. They would not be able to even get a Deharnais type of depth unless they will round out the roster with defensemen like Stilman or Friedman.

You make a good point that I didn't even think about. Oilers fans keep talking about a rising cap but don't realize the depth guys they want will also want more money because of the salary cap increase.

 

[Coffee]

Oh don't get me wrong. He has been a prick lol

When did Myers get himv

 

[jackjohnson]

That's a no from me, Draisaitl might be the best player in the deal, although I'd argue Norris winning D-men are harder to come by.
I'd argue Hughes-Draisaitl is a wash. So JT Miller and Thatcher Demko for Nurse... , Draisaitl does not move the needle enough in what we would be losing, hell I'd even say no if it was McDavid and Nurse.

Oilers fans certainly overvalue their own players by a lot. Hughes would at least equal the trade value of Drai but Hughes might be worth more due to being younger, lower cap hit and winning a Norris at a young age and having a unique skillset offensively that is rare to see in this league. He is as dynamically offensive as Makar and there are only 2 of them in this league

 

[Coffee]

Edmonton had no,choice, but they will need to ship out nurse and Kane if they want to accommodate the 3 big raises and compete for a cup

Make a thread for that if you have enough writing context