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

[Honour Over Glory]

I don’t understand what the problem is. Some of you sound delusional as if having RNH at a discount, or getting McDrai for fair deals is a problem. It also sounds dumb as rocks since these comments don’t take into account the rising cap whatsoever. This isn’t a new phenomenon.

The Nurse contract sucks but that’s about it out of the core players.

RNH isn't at a discount. He's likely at best paid 500-800k less maybe per his average annual.

He's a 65pt player that's likely a little less than that if he didn't have that random 104pt season. Without that boost he's a career 61pt average player. 5.125/yr is pretty much market value.

The assumption was he was underpaid because his trajectory was to make it seem like he was. He never made it feel that way outside of one big year during a high scoring era.

It's funny someone mentioned Rob Brown when they talked that 104pt season in this thread, aka Today's Hyman.

 

[SK13]

lol RNH is wildly overrated. Most undeserved 100 point season since Brown maybe

What's an "undeserved" 100 point season? There's never been one in history. You either score the 100 points or you do not. It's not uncommon that someone had a statistically aberrant season, but that really doesn't take anything away from the accomplishment.

No sensible person ever for a second considered that his "new normal". There was never any kind of narrative coming out of Edmonton that suddenly he's a 35+ goal, 100+ point player because he was hard sniping on the literal best PP of all time.

He's a first-unit PP, first-unit PK, hard match-up forward that plays C and LW and is good for 25 goals and 65 points in an average year. Hard to overrate that. Mikael Backlund wishes he could hold RNHs jock.

That's a pretty damn good 5.125M player.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

What's an "undeserved" 100 point season? There's never been one in history. You either score the 100 points or you do not. It's not uncommon that someone had a statistically aberrant season, but that really doesn't take anything away from the accomplishment.

No sensible person ever for a second considered that his "new normal". There was never any kind of narrative coming out of Edmonton that suddenly he's a 35+ goal, 100+ point player because he was hard sniping on the literal best PP of all time.

He's a first-unit PP, first-unit PK, hard match-up forward that plays C and LW and is good for 25 goals and 65 points in an average year. Hard to overrate that. Mikael Backlund wishes he could hold RNHs jock.

Why am I getting a notification for this reply? I said his 104pt season was an aberration. Which it was. He's a career 60pt player that had 1 very good year, the league had 11 different players hit 100+ points that year, it's also in its highest scoring era since the 90s and that's been going on since 2018-19.

The likelihood of RNH hitting 100pts again is insanely low.

Edit: ah the watch thread feature, that's awful. I don't want a notification for each reply to this. Just wanted to bookmark the infernal thread.

 

[Three On Zero]

still ALOT less to play with for the rest of the team. when u cant afford depth ur stars need to completely carry the load. which becomes easier to play against. shutdown the core 4 and u beat them. but cap is rising so maybe things workout. also when one of those Dman is Nurse. I dont think its that good of a thing.

Luckily McDavid can double shift a lot more effectively than most though, for Edmontons shorter term future anyways

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Luckily McDavid can double shift a lot more effectively than most though, for Edmontons shorter term future anyways

When you resort to this as a rationale, it's best to step away and as you lads say these days - and go touch grass.

 

[Three On Zero]

When you resort to this as a rationale, it's best to step away and as you lads say these days - and go touch grass.

Why? They do it already and isn’t a new tactic for dealing with cap issues.

 

[SK13]

When you resort to this as a rationale, it's best to step away and as you lads say these days - and go touch grass.

The Edmonton Oilers have strong forward depth right now because a competitive season that saw them tie the all-time win-streak record, and get one game from the Stanley Cup has allowed them to sign players like Adam Henrique and Jeff Skinner at below market value.

There's no need to wax about the Oilers depth problems until they actually have depth problems.

 

[VainGretzky]

Why are all the other fan bases so worried about the Oilers cap situation , do the Oilers really have a huge closet fanbase secretly cheering for them

 

[GOilers88]

Hmm, I wonder why Draisaitl gets lesser wingers.

Malkin literally won a cup in 2009 with Fedotenko and Max Talbot as his wingers in the finals. That's the hard reality of the Salary cap. Because Sid And Geno didn't go ham on their next contracts, they were able to finesse Kessel, Hornqvist and some timely adds for vets and youth on top of having decent depth already.

Drai having a bigger cap hit screws him more than anything. Now you have Skinner and Arvidsson, which will help but it also means both need to workout exceptionally well and for one of those players it means being healthy.

Losing two young players that were likely going to take a step forward in their game and development, especially like Broberg and also moving Ceci in hopes some others workout is also a risk. They supported the top 6, got weaker on D as a result. That's one area each cup winner has boasted for depth, so unless some very shrewd moves are made at the TDL or some miracles happen with some of that D, that cap structure is already their biggest issue and will be a bigger one for years.

Team has been cap strapped for years and they keep going further and further every year. The sky hasn't fallen and moves consistently get made to allow for cap space and upgrades on players.

 

[HighLifeMan]

Mikael Backlund wishes he could hold RNHs jock.

"hard matchup forward" .. that's rich.

Over the last three years Backlund has the same amount of five on five goals, three more points, plays far harder matchups (43% zone o-zone starts vs 55%), and is better analytically in every category. Backlund has more hits, more takeaways, and more penalties drawn. Backlund has a much better faceoff percentage. Oh ya.. RNH most common linemates over this period of time are Hyman, McDavid and Draisaitl... vs Coleman & Mangiapane

All RNH has on Backlund is being the 4th best player on an elite PP. He's the very definition of a leach.

 

[Frank Drebin]

"hard matchup forward" .. that's rich.

Over the last three years Backlund has the same amount of five on five goals, three more points, plays far harder matchups (43% zone o-zone starts vs 55%), and is better analytically in every category. Backlund has more hits, more takeaways, and more penalties drawn. Backlund has a much better faceoff percentage. Oh ya.. RNH most common linemates over this period of time are Hyman, McDavid and Draisaitl... vs Coleman & Mangiapane

All RNH has on Backlund is being the 4th best player on an elite PP. He's the very definition of a leach.

Backlund isn't important.

 

[K1984]

People that don't watch the Oilers (or have no idea what they're watching) wouldn't know that anytime RNH is out of the lineup, the Oilers PP usually falls off a cliff. He's a critical player in the formation, and a lot goes through him. McDavid/Drai/Bouchard/Hyman usually finish off plays that start on his stick.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

Luckily McDavid can double shift a lot more effectively than most though, for Edmontons shorter term future anyways

oh I think McDavid and Drai will still make noise, I just dunno if it will be enough. but also this is a much different situation than Toronto.
Toronto had nothing but bad luck on their side. sure if they avoided Tavares things prob would have been fine but hindsight is 20/20,

if it wasn't for the flat cap and the cap went up how it was expected they would have had like 9 ore more m to play with over those times. likely Hyman would have been extended if it wasn't for the cap standing still.

with the cap rising alot. Oilers might struggle with depth for a couple seasons. but as it keeps rising it will allow more and more depth to be signed/acquired.

Leafs can start saving on Matthews/Nylander as early as next season too but Matthews contract is so short it likely wont make much of a difference. if McDavid signs 8x and with Drai extended long term things should be ok as long as Jack Campbell type contracts are avoided lol

People that don't watch the Oilers (or have no idea what they're watching) wouldn't know that anytime RNH is out, the Oilers PP usually falls off a cliff. He's a critical player in the formation, and a lot goes through him. McDavid/Drai/Bouchard/Hyman usually finish off plays that start on his stick.

ahhh, give him a break. I believe RNH had an insane season the year before. and then a disappointing season last year. it hasn't been so long that he's expected to just be a 3rd liner. he very well can break 100 points again. as of right now with projections he's expected to basically be ppg. so we will see, never know something could have been bothering him

 

[jackjohnson]

With Arvidsson and Skinner joining the team this will be the first time the Oilers have had four legitimate top 6 wingers entering a season in the McDavid era so they hopefully don't have to keep mixing and matching 3rd and 4th liners in the top 6 to find something that works. That doesn't even include Kane but who knows what his future with team is at this point.

Kane is a legitimate top 6 winger. Since when did Kane become a bottom 6 winger? In fact in playoffs, i would probably take Kaner over Skinner. Foegellr is also decent.

 

[Three On Zero]

Kane is a legitimate top 6 winger. Since when did Kane become a bottom 6 winger? In fact in playoffs, i would probably take Kaner over Skinner. Foegellr is also decent.

How? Skinner hasn’t played in the playoffs before and Kane is slowly turning into a liability. He’s not tough, he doesn’t really fight, he doesn’t stop players from taking runs at McDavid and Draisaitl.

ahhh, give him a break. I believe RNH had an insane season the year before. and then a disappointing season last year. it hasn't been so long that he's expected to just be a 3rd liner. he very well can break 100 points again. as of right now with projections he's expected to basically be ppg. so we will see, never know something could have been bothering him

RNH had one good outlier season on the PP, outside of that one season he’s what? A 30ish point player on the powerplay? He helps but he isn’t an integral part of it

 

[Arthur Morgan]

How? Skinner hasn’t played in the playoffs before and Kane is slowly turning into a liability. He’s not tough, he doesn’t really fight, he doesn’t stop players from taking runs at McDavid and Draisaitl.


RNH had one good outlier season on the PP, outside of that one season he’s what? A 30ish point player on the powerplay? He helps but he isn’t an integral part of it

yeah, still he's not just some shit player. he did get most his points on the PP. but I still think he's more than just a 3rd liner

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Team has been cap strapped for years and they keep going further and further every year. The sky hasn't fallen and moves consistently get made to allow for cap space and upgrades on players.

The last 5 seasons.

Lost in Qualifying Round
Out in the 1stround
Out in the 3rd round
Out in the 2nd round
Out in the Finals

Further and further each year isn't exactly accurate.

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

give me a reason why it won't go up


I said close to 100 mil
that's not that far-fetched for the reasons I gave already

in a 3-year span pre-covid (from 17-20) the cap went up 6.5 million BEFORE the US TV deal and during the recent Canadian TV deal and NO World Cup/Olympic participation

And before the NHL got on their knees to fellate the gambling schlong.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

And before the NHL got on their knees to fellate the gambling schlong.

*Every league

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

Right now they're more like the Sharts instead of the Sharks

*Every league

Very fair! NHL is not the only offender. Just stating though that the revenue impact of that would be theoretically included in the cap escalation this year, and potentially additional future increases.

 

[CupofOil]

Hold on, so you think 5.125m is underpaid in comparison to 875k more that he deserves at 6m?

Taking a better look at this. He had one aberration of a season at 100pts, given he never hit 70pts in his career before or after that and he's 31 at the moment. Saying he took a discount is probably not even true. He's getting pretty much his actual worth. At the time the assumption was he'd be a 80+ player but that never really materialized. Even with that 100pt season, his ppg is close to say Marchessault who was a 5m/yr player and is now getting 5.5m/yr.


I literally gave you logical reasons in this thread with financial numbers and trends as well.

But you lot want to ignore it so it fits your narrative so you do you.

RNH is a lynchpin on the 1st PP and PK units and has generally been a 20+ goal, 55-60 point player playing 20 minutes a night, that's generally worth more than $5m on the open market. A 28-29 year old RNH would have absolutely gotten more than $5m on the open market hence why he's underpaid. Whether or not he's underpaid by $1m or more is irrelevant, he's still worth more than $5m/yr. If Marchessault was in his late 20s with those numbers, he would have gotten paid quite a bit more than $5.5m/yr.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

RNH is a lynchpin on the 1st PP and PK units and has generally been a 20+ goal, 55-60 point player playing 20 minutes a night, that's generally worth more than $5m on the open market. A 28-29 year old RNH would have absolutely gotten more than $5m on the open market hence why he's underpaid. Whether or not he's underpaid by $1m or more is irrelevant, he's still worth more than $5m/yr. If Marchessault was in his late 20s with those numbers, he would have gotten paid quite a bit more than $5.5m/yr.

Relax Ryan.

 

[Cup or Bust]

Why are all the other fan bases so worried about the Oilers cap situation , do the Oilers really have a huge closet fanbase secretly cheering for them

I don't get it either especially since the Oilers have been up against the cap for years now. The Oilers are looking pretty darn good going into this season. Why people are worrying about 3 and 4 years down the road is beyond me, so much can change from now until then.

 

[Three On Zero]

yeah, still he's not just some shit player. he did get most his points on the PP. but I still think he's more than just a 3rd liner

3rd/2nd liner they can float to either line

 

[Rubi]

Why are all the other fan bases so worried about the Oilers cap situation ,

You're confusing worry with glee.

do the Oilers really have a huge closet fanbase secretly cheering for them

No. Those Oilers fans that were in the closet came out a long time ago.