Confirmed with Link: [EDM] Oilers extend Leon Draisaitl (8 Years, $14M AAV, NMC)

[brentashton]

Draisaitl sets a pretty low bar for Marner

Marner’s playoff performance already set the low bar for himself.

 

[Fourier]

I always have mixed feelings about these kinds of contracts.

On the one hand, the #1 priority was returning Drai to the Oilers for the next two or three seasons. So, that's done and dusted, and thus I can sleep easier.

On the other hand, we all know there is a lot of risk involved in contracting players who are likely cresting-their-primes or soon-to-be-exiting their primes with this much long-term money.

Draisaitl has been an incredible, world-elite player for years. Any glance at his unbelievable stats (RS and playoffs) makes it immediately clear that he's worth $14 million for those years. (During those years, he was underpaid per League value.)

The question, of course, is: Is he worth $14 million for the years 2025-2033? The answer is: Almost certainly NOT. It would be a minor miracle if Draisaitl were producing 70% of his current numbers by 2032-33.

Just judging by last season, it's possible that Drai is already (albeit slowly) starting to exit his prime. Of course, it's also possible that he will roar back next season with an enormous year. But either way, I doubt he'll be a 100-point scorer say, four years from now.

Needless to say, none of this matters much if the Oilers win even one Stanley Cup (next spring, let's hope!). And clearly the org's decision is to go all-in, financially. Which is fine. It's a gamble, and they've taken their position and put their money where their mouths are. I (mostly) approve.

But I would feel better if the Oilers didn't have so many of these long-term contracts. Nuge, Nurse, Drai... It's quite possible that, in five years, the Oil will be shelling out $29 million a season just for Nurse, Nuge, and Drai, who might collectively be:
- a bottom-pairing D
- a 40-point-a-year two-way forward
- a 65-point-a-year disgruntled former superstar

This is before we even consider McDavid's next contract...

Anyway, as we all know, this is all the org's attempt to counter-balance the decades of star players leaving Edmonton, so I "get it" and I approve.

I also worry... but for now, we've got Drai back!

The risk is mostly mitigated by the fact that this team will go only as far as Draisaitl and McDavid take them. The next four years have to be the absolute focus. If 5 years from now they have not won and Draisaitl has dropped off then the Oilers will be in full rebuild/retool mode. Which of these is the case will depend on McDavid I suspect.

The cap space to retool will come from others in the core coming off the books and by then a potentially much higher cap. How successful a retool might be will depend on how many smart decisions this management group makes between now and then.

 

[Zerotonine]

Just be happy he is here for good. I had a feeling he was gonna be around 14. I hoped for it to start with 13 aswell but like some have said few extra 100k who cares.

I also kind of think deai had a chip on his shoulder about how well he pkayed above his current deal

 

[OilerTyler]

 

[94 Oil Drops]

Its nice waking up knowing that Draisaitl is going to play here at until I'm 39. Probably longer.

 

[K1984]

Have to say, the goalpost moving by insanely stupid Nuck/Leaf/Flame fans is right as expected.

“Duuuuuuhhhhh he’s gonna leave and sign in Boston or San Jose! Edmonton’s a dump!”

He re-signs.

“Duuuuuh their 4 players are paid more than our 4 players! JT Miller’s contract is better! He didn’t even score in the finals! Their depth sucks now!”

I hate them. I hate them all so much and I can’t wait to watch the Oil dance on those garbage teams this year.

 

[kevy9999]

Cause 97 was skating with him last week. Everyone down east figured it was Mathews trying to talk McDavid into going to Tor.

I am saying it was 97 trying to get Mathews to come to Edmonton.

Now you know. Come ask me more questions when you can’t figure stuff out.

I figured that stupidity out lol mathews name doesn't belong in same sentence as McDavid. And Secondly McDavid skated in summer with pull my pants down porn stash before. This is nothing new . McDavid has skated with many players in league in the summer.

 

[Stauf4Prez]

Have to say, the goalpost moving by insanely stupid Nuck/Leaf/Flame fans is right as expected.

“Duuuuuuhhhhh he’s gonna leave and sign in Boston or San Jose! Edmonton’s a dump!”

He re-signs.

“Duuuuuh their 4 players are paid more than our 4 players! JT Miller’s contract is better! He didn’t even score in the finals! Their depth sucks now!”

I hate them. I hate them all so much and I can’t wait to watch the Oil dance on those garbage teams this year.

Canucks fan should worry about their injured-still/again starting goalie that was supposed to be the world mover if he was healthy for our series........

 

[K1984]

Canucks fan should worry about their injured-still/again starting goalie that was supposed to be the world mover if he was healthy for our series........

They should also worry about that mopey little bitch “Let’s go Petey” floating around every night again.

 

[Frank the Tank]

Have to say, the goalpost moving by insanely stupid Nuck/Leaf/Flame fans is right as expected.

“Duuuuuuhhhhh he’s gonna leave and sign in Boston or San Jose! Edmonton’s a dump!”

He re-signs.

“Duuuuuh their 4 players are paid more than our 4 players! JT Miller’s contract is better! He didn’t even score in the finals! Their depth sucks now!”

I hate them. I hate them all so much and I can’t wait to watch the Oil dance on those garbage teams this year.

They are being trolls. If the Oilers win the Cup, they'll still attempt to find a way to spin it as a negative. Don't let these people suck the joy out of watching and cheering for your favorite hockey teams.

 

[McJadeddog]

He's earned the contract and if we win one or 2 cups, great. It will be a very difficult contract after that thou. If we don't win and things go sour, this gets ugly even quicker. For now, congrats to Leon, and the Oilers.

I don't think it will ever "get ugly". People understand that hockey players are not immune to aging, and that McDrai will both be shadows of their former selves by the time their 3rd contracts are over. Nobody is expecting them to score 50g or 100p when they are 37 years old.

 

[Fishy McScales]

I don't think it will ever "get ugly". People understand that hockey players are not immune to aging, and that McDrai will both be shadows of their former selves by the time their 3rd contracts are over. Nobody is expecting them to score 50g or 100p when they are 37 years old.

Not necessarily, at least in McDavid's case. Wayne was still a 90-100 point player in his twilight years.

 

[bleatbloop]

The only negative to this contract is in the fact that we didn't win a Cup with him at 8.5 when he was drastically overplaying his worth. That was the Cup window all of those other big dynasty clubs made their killing in, with multiple guys on amazing contracts.

Now he is being paid what he's worth, of course as he should. His steal of a deal was balancing out the numerous bad contracts we have.

It's almost like we are paying him for past work, and we didn't get the job done. It sucks because now it's going to get a lot harder than it was the last couple years to work things in.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

The only negative to this contract is in the fact that we didn't win a Cup with him at 8.5 when he was drastically overplaying his worth. That was the Cup window all of those other big dynasty clubs made their killing in, with multiple guys on amazing contracts.

Now he is being paid what he's worth, of course as he should. His steal of a deal was balancing out the numerous bad contracts we have.

It's almost like we are paying him for past work, and we didn't get the job done. It sucks because now it's going to get a lot harder than it was the last couple years to work things in.

This might shock you, but he’s still making 8.5m

 

[Soundwave]

The only negative to this contract is in the fact that we didn't win a Cup with him at 8.5 when he was drastically overplaying his worth. That was the Cup window all of those other big dynasty clubs made their killing in, with multiple guys on amazing contracts.

Now he is being paid what he's worth, of course as he should. His steal of a deal was balancing out the numerous bad contracts we have.

It's almost like we are paying him for past work, and we didn't get the job done. It sucks because now it's going to get a lot harder than it was the last couple years to work things in.

Because Chia and Holland were idiots it wasn't as much of a discount as it's made out to be.

Last playoffs we were still carrying 1.9 from Neal/Lucic in dead cap + paying Campbell 3+ million to sit in the AHL.

This year we are paying 1.9 for Neal/Lucic + 3.2 for Brown's bonus ... that is virtually all of Leon's price increase already priced in (8.5 + 1.9 + 3.25 = 13.5) for next year.

And yeah Leon is still at 8.5 for this coming season.

The management here needs to be better, 1 good move for every 1 bad move isn't good enough.

 

[K1984]

I don't think it will ever "get ugly". People understand that hockey players are not immune to aging, and that McDrai will both be shadows of their former selves by the time their 3rd contracts are over. Nobody is expecting them to score 50g or 100p when they are 37 years old.

If you look at players of their class historically (Crosby, Ovechkin, Malkin, Kane, Yzerman, Sakic, Messier, Gretzky, Lemieux, etc) those players almost always remain top line level productive almost until the end, Messier and Yzerman being exceptions due to playing until north of 40.

At some point in the deals these two might technically be "overpaid," but I would be stunned if they weren't at least ~PPG+ productive throughout.

 

[frag2]

Have to say, the goalpost moving by insanely stupid Nuck/Leaf/Flame fans is right as expected.

“Duuuuuuhhhhh he’s gonna leave and sign in Boston or San Jose! Edmonton’s a dump!”

He re-signs.

“Duuuuuh their 4 players are paid more than our 4 players! JT Miller’s contract is better! He didn’t even score in the finals! Their depth sucks now!”

I hate them. I hate them all so much and I can’t wait to watch the Oil dance on those garbage teams this year.

It's hilarious. I find when you even make an innocuous comment like worry about your own team first, the first thing [esp Nuckleheads] they do is shit on the city lol

 

[MessierII]

I don't think it will ever "get ugly". People understand that hockey players are not immune to aging, and that McDrai will both be shadows of their former selves by the time their 3rd contracts are over. Nobody is expecting them to score 50g or 100p when they are 37 years old.

You’d be surprised. I think McDavid could easily be a 100 point guy at that age. Even into his early 40’s.

 

[K1984]

It's hilarious. I find when you even make an innocuous comment like worry about your own team first, the first thing [esp Nuckleheads] they do is shit on the city lol

The city thing is the default for 99% of Nuck fans.

For a long, long time Vancouverites have considered themselves living in Shangri La and are completely fixated on it. They are the only ones that seem to think it is any sort of flex, but it's where they reflexively go every single time. Collective maturity of 5 year olds.

 

[North]

It's hilarious. I find when you even make an innocuous comment like worry about your own team first, the first thing [esp Nuckleheads] they do is shit on the city lol

At least I can afford to live in my city. Theirs? Not so much and I have a pretty good job.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

I don't think it will ever "get ugly". People understand that hockey players are not immune to aging, and that McDrai will both be shadows of their former selves by the time their 3rd contracts are over. Nobody is expecting them to score 50g or 100p when they are 37 years old.

 

[Oilslick941611]

Imagine the performance wrist owie boy would give if he had broken ribs and a broken finger.

we'll never know because a tummy ache takes him out of the lineup

 

[Soundwave]

Mario Lemieux had 91 points in 67 games in 02-03, lol at age 37 with a body that was falling apart, that's bonkers.

 

[joestevens29]

People can bicker over 500k or 1mil, but what is the alternative? Trade the guy?

Keep your elite players and build around them. Still going to be getting guys to come here on bargain deals for the foreseeable future to help offset larger contracts. Still have Kane, Hyman and Nuge on team friendly deals. Have bonus and buyouts coming off the book next year.

 

[AlanHUK]

will be interesting to see what happens with the Canadian and US broadcasting rights over the next few years, since they'll have a huge impact on the cap.

Amazon have got streaming rights for Monday night hockey in Canada for the next couple of seasons, if it does well then they could comfortably outbid anyone for exclusive rights when the current broadcast deal expires