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

[Half Clapper]

I think the days of finding that kind of elite talent so frequently are gone as teams advanced scouting units have them sifting through every nook and cranny for talent. It wasn't like that back in the early 90s not to mention the greater difficulties in getting some of the Russian guys over. Sure you'll get the occasional gem that thrives like Bratt, but if you look at the 89 draft (the Lidstrom draft) you were finding 500 point guys in the 9th-10th rounds and Hall of Famers in the 7th (also in the 11th IMO if Konstantinov didn't have the awful accident). Nowadays you gotta be extra efficient on your top picks because those flukes don't happen very often anymore.

There are still damn good players that go late in drafts. Kaprizov and Hagel are two other names.

Kaprizov went in the 5th round in 2015 and he is one of the best players in the show.

 

[Slats432]

Yeah being able to watch Draisaitl and also now probably McDavid for their entire primes sure is going to be rough. Poor Oiler fans.

I know right?

 

[LTIR]

You oilers fans confuse me. I got one guy saying Bouchard is an elite #1 and then I got you saying to move on from him, because anybody can do it.

And to one you are saying that Bouchard is worth 10M because no one else can do what he does and to the other you are laughing at the idea of him being a top pairing Dman.

 

[TheBeard]

There are still damn good players that go late in drafts. Kaprizov and Hagel are two other names.

Kaprizov went in the 5th round in 2015 and he is one of the best players in the show.

Sure. It happens, but rarely and usually it's cases where it's a Russian player with a KHL contract. Scouting has gotten considerably better. Take the 1994 draft, there were less players with over 100 career points in the first round than in the 6th round on (granted it was still to 11 rounds). The very last player in the draft - Kim Johnsson - you could make an argument was the 3rd best D-man of the draft behind Ohlund and Jovo.

It's always fascinating to me seeing where some of these guys back then got drafted.

 

[Zerotonine]

There are still damn good players that go late in drafts. Kaprizov and Hagel are two other names.

Kaprizov went in the 5th round in 2015 and he is one of the best players in the show.

Big reason kaprizov went so late isn't because of talent. Its teams not wanting to waste high pick on khl players not knowing if they will come over to the nhl

 

[Ironmanrulez]

Only in hockey do the best players stay forever with the team that has drafted them! It doesnt matter that the franchise is poorly run and the player would have more chances to win when he goes to another team. Same with Giroux over all the years with Philly.

Why dont switch teams and search your own way. And not staying behind McD. ....

ok Draisaitl and McD will be very good for the whole contract. But the oilers will sabotage both like they have done for years now!

 

[CanadasTeam99]

Bouchard on Arizona last year would have been a train wreck. he can't play defence at all, and gets carried by a damn good D-man in Ekholm, who is better than Bouchard.

Context matters here buddy.

Tell me you know nothing about hockey without telling me.

They finally got a competent GM in 2020 and the results are starting to show. Hey, the top 10 is better than the Oilers drafted for a decade! They just squandered first-overall picks!

Man the salt is big with this guy lol

Only in hockey do the best players stay forever with the team that has drafted them! It doesnt matter that the franchise is poorly run and the player would have more chances to win when he goes to another team. Same with Giroux over all the years with Philly.

Why dont switch teams and search your own way. And not staying behind McD. ....

ok Draisaitl and McD will be very good for the whole contract. But the oilers will sabotage both like they have done for years now!

Another basement dweller. Too much salt

 

[TheNumber4]

I just think the Oilers were so bad for so long without even trying to compete, which I am not a fan of. I think a team should always compete every night no matter what management wants. Ya, I def could see that happening.

Also, the whole Perlini waiver mess wasn't a good look either. His mom tweeting about it was why he wasn't resigned, but who knows for sure. There is a reason a lot of fans are cheering for them to lose.

Well there’s your problem. You assumed wrongly the Oilers weren’t trying to compete. Nah. We’ve tried to compete every year of our existence. We didn’t tank. If you hate tanking teams, there’s plenty of actual tanking teams you should be hating on.

The Oilers have always just been an easy team to root against! But ya they didn't deserve McDavid due to their absolute poor drafting, roster building, and overall poor uninspiring play for years leading up to getting him. One of the worst drafting teams in the NHL, and it doesn't look like it is getting any better.

The Oilers are a top 3 cup favourite next year, but in 25-26 I think they take a step back, and are a bubble team. Def a few up-and-coming teams coming out of the west. I guess time will tell


You act like having Mcdavid will mean the oilers can compete for cups. That isn't how it works. You can't have two star players without other pieces like in basketball and win it all.

Ex) Chicago had - Kane, Toews, Keith, Seabrook, Hossa, and Sharp as their core guys when they won three cups. Edmonton just doesn't have that...

Ahh this dumb narrative again. No the Draft doesn’t exist to reward successful teams, in fact it exists to do the exact opposite. If you don’t like how that works take it up with every sports league ever.

 

[TheNumber4]

Only in hockey do the best players stay forever with the team that has drafted them! It doesnt matter that the franchise is poorly run and the player would have more chances to win when he goes to another team. Same with Giroux over all the years with Philly.

Why dont switch teams and search your own way. And not staying behind McD. ....

ok Draisaitl and McD will be very good for the whole contract. But the oilers will sabotage both like they have done for years now!

There’s very few teams in the League that could offer Drai a better chance to win than the Oilers. Drai knows this, he’s not a complete moron, that’s why he commited to a team with the best player on Earth.

 

[Sniper99]

Make no mistake, the reason he signed was money. No one else was able to give him the 8th year at 14 mill.

That is a lot of money. And the Oilers had to give him what he wanted, or he would have walked.

You're really not going anywhere with this. You're takes are comical.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

So I guess going to the finals the one time was enough for Draisaitl. Because that cap hit and whatever Bouchard will get as well basically means that roster is going to struggle for quality over quantity.

How is that Draisaitls fault? He's getting market value , its on the Oilers to figure out the rest. GM's also get paid millions to do their job

 

[Sasha Orlov]

So I guess going to the finals the one time was enough for Draisaitl. Because that cap hit and whatever Bouchard will get as well basically means that roster is going to struggle for quality over quantity.

They are still the Cup favourites this year with Florida lol

Why do so many act like they can’t do anything right now because Bouchard will resign in the future? Makes no sense

 

[AcerComputer]

This now setups up McDavid's exit from EDM and him signing with TOR as a UFA.

 

[North Cole]

You act like having Mcdavid will mean the oilers can compete for cups. That isn't how it works. You can't have two star players without other pieces like in basketball and win it all.

Ex) Chicago had - Kane, Toews, Keith, Seabrook, Hossa, and Sharp as their core guys when they won three cups. Edmonton just doesn't have that...

As opposed to, not having McDavid and Draisaitl and...not competing for cups? It's such a pointless premise.

 

[HogtownSabresfan]

The front end loaded and bonus structure of this contract will be tough for other teams cash flow if this trend continues

 

[LOFIN]

The front end loaded and bonus structure of this contract will be tough for other teams cash flow if this trend continues

Teams have been doing this for ages, his structure is not unique.

 

[MCB]

Good for oilers fans and drai, interested in watching this and the mcd/bouchard signings play out. I'm not pretending to know one way or another, it's just a fun storyline to follow and see.

 

[Garbageyuk]

People understate dumb luck in a lot of this too. Fluking out with a Lidstrom in the 4th or 5th round is franchise altering.

Fedorov, 4th round
Vyacheslav Kozlov, 3rd round
Konstantinov, 11th round
Osgood, 3rd round
McCarty, 2nd round
Holmstrom, 10th round
Dandenault, 2nd round
Datsyuk, 6th round
Zetterberg, 6th round
Hudler, 2nd round
Fleischmann, 2nd round
Filppula, 3rd round
Jonathan Ericsson, 9th round
Jimmy Howard, 2nd round
Kyle Quincy, 4th round
Franzen, 3rd round
Nyqvist, 4th round
Tatar, 2nd round
Mrazek, 5th round
Athanasiou, 4th round
Bertuzzi, 2nd round
Hronek, 2nd round

And many, many more NHLers drafted in the later rounds, literally too many to list.

It wasn’t luck. Whoever was in charge of drafting for DET from ‘89 to like ‘04 is literally the GOAT. It was still good as well until about 2016, but not on the previous level.

 

[VainGretzky]

Make no mistake, the reason he signed was money. No one else was able to give him the 8th year at 14 mill.

That is a lot of money. And the Oilers had to give him what he wanted, or he would have walked.

You realize no other teams were allowed to talk to him lol

 

[SupremeTeam16]

The front end loaded and bonus structure of this contract will be tough for other teams cash flow if this trend continues

This isn’t a new trend and there’s reasons that these structures can benefit both sides. We’re probably looking at an extended lockout in two years so I’m sure we’ll be seeing a ton of signing bonus money. I think the players are gearing up for a fight with Marty Walsh heading up the PA. Team values have been sky rocketing, owners have been getting a bunch of expansion/relocation money and with the players coming out of living with an extended flat cap situation they are going to be hungry to get theirs. While they might be talking nice right now and it seems like there’s labour peace, I wouldn’t be surprised to see an absolute war between owners and the PA when the cba comes due.

 

[Cup or Bust]

Draisaitl is one of the best players in the league, the guy scores 40-50 goals and 100 points a season, great in the playoffs and he has been one of the most successful players in the league for the last decade outside of McDavid, what do people expect a player like that to get? The big key in having that type of elite talent like Draisaitl, McDavid, and Bouchard is you sign them because they are great players but what you don't do is sign the Jack Campbell's and waste 5 million in cap space. That extra 5 million in cap space might have been the difference between winning and losing the Cup last season.

 

[Pebble live]

How is that Draisaitls fault? He's getting market value , its on the Oilers to figure out the rest. GM's also get paid millions to do their job

"Market value" is set by these guys. They'll try to say they're doing what they have to do for the next guy and for the other guys in the PA but it's complete bullshit. They can all take less if they truly wanted to prioritize winning and their teammates.

In the context of career earnings, if Drai left 10M on the table over 8 years his quality of life would not change. Him and his family are set either way. On the other hand that 10M over the life time of the contract could go a long way to help the organization keep a competitive team together.

It never fails, time and time again all these superstars do is confirm they care more about the money than they do winning, which is perfectly fine by the way, I'd do the same. The reality is life outside of hockey is more important and it requires real dollars. No one truly gives a f*** if you're a cup winner or not. But time and time again fans are gas lit to think these guys are taking "less" to keep the core together or to build a competitive team, of it's fair market value. It's all bullshit.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

Pretty sure theres a massive difference between these players and the losers in TO.

well good luck, Drai, McDavid, Bouchard and Nurse. having to fill most your team with bargain bin players doesn't really help in the playoffs. when all your offense comes from 2-4 players. you become incredibly easy to play against. McDavid and Drai can prob make some noise still but if they lock them up. good luck because no money to go else where.

having said this Id still pay Drai and McDavid and figure it out later.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

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.

that is true but honestly. making it to the finals is nothing to really brag about other than like the following season. no one brags about coming 2nd. no one cares. people only care about winners.
if your not first..... your last lol

 

[Arthur Morgan]

we need an emergency shipment of copium from Toronto

why? I don't get it? was a nice signing and prob going to really help keep McDavid. great moves for Edmonton, not sure why we would care though. maybe this would make more sense on a McDavid extension thread since alot of Leafs fans think McDavid is going to sign in Toronto as a UFA.

not sure why so many fans of other teams think of us so much.