FIVE-TIME ALL-STAR SIGNS EIGHT-YEAR EXTENSION WITH OILERS
Superstar Oilers center Leon Draisaitl has signed an eight-year, $112M extension to keep him in Edmonton through the 2032-33 season, the team announced. He’s now the NHL’s highest-paid player with an average annual value of $14M, as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman initially reported.
Draisaitl has a full no-movement clause for the contract's life, per Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic. He adds that the deal carries a front-loaded structure, although the salary breakdown has yet to be reported.
The 28-year-old Draisaitl also lands the second-largest contract by total value in NHL history, trailing only Alex Ovechkin’s 13-year, $124M deal with the Capitals signed under the previous Collective Bargaining Agreement in 2008.
“This is a historic day for the Edmonton Oilers,” general manager Stan Bowman said in a team press release. “Leon’s commitment to our team, our city and Oilers fans everywhere cannot be overstated. His desire to help bring a Stanley Cup title home to Edmonton is central to everything he does both on and off the ice.”
While it was widely expected Draisaitl would sign a max-term extension to stay in Edmonton, few thought he’d be the first player to land a $14M AAV. There was no guarantee he’d eclipse Auston Matthews’ $13.25M AAV to become the new highest-paid player in the league, let alone shatter it. However, since Bowman took the GM’s office in July, extension discussions have been reportedly smooth, which, in hindsight, should have been a strong indication that the Oilers were willing to shell out record-breaking cash to keep the German star in Edmonton.
Unlike his other generational teammate, Connor McDavid, Draisaitl wasn’t an impact piece immediately upon arriving in the NHL. The 2014 third-overall pick had just two goals and nine points in 37 games during his post-draft year. He developed into a high-end top-six piece over the coming years, routinely hitting over 20 goals and 70 points, but hadn’t quite captured the aura of a superstar.
That all changed in 2018-19. While the Oilers missed the playoffs for the 12th time in 13 years, it was a proper breakout campaign for Draisaitl, who led the team in goals (50) and finished second behind McDavid in points with 105. Since that season, Edmonton has made the playoffs every year, and Draisaitl has recorded or been on pace for over 100 points in an 82-game year. A two-time year-end All-Star, Draisaitl also took home the Art Ross, Hart, and Pearson awards/trophies during the 2019-20 season after leading the league with 67 assists and 110 points in 71 games.
The Cologne-born pivot is also one of the most prolific playoff performers in league history. His 108 points in 74 postseason games work out to 1.46 P/GP, which is fourth all-time among players with at least 50 games of playoff experience. Only Wayne Gretzky (1.84), Mario Lemieux (1.61), and McDavid (1.58) have produced more on a nightly basis when the games matter most. It’s imposing when considering Draisaitl has played through injuries for a good chunk of the past three postseasons.
The rest of the league knows the best available potential 2025 unrestricted free agent won’t hit the open market. There’s a chance he could have landed even more money per season with the salary cap expected to rise to at least $92M for 2025-26, but the total value likely would have been smaller with a seven-year maximum.
Even after declining to match the rich offer sheets levied by the Blues for Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway last month, Bowman and the Oilers now find themselves in a seriously precarious salary cap situation for 2025-26. They already have a projected cap hit of $77.4M, per PuckPedia, leaving them $14.6M to re-sign pending RFA defenseman Evan Bouchard and fill at least three other roster spots (assuming a $92M upper limit). 38.9% of next season’s spending is already dedicated solely to Draisaitl, McDavid, and Darnell Nurse.
As such, the Oilers’ directive to win a championship in the Draisaitl/McDavid era is clearer than it’s ever been in 2024-25. After falling one game short of their first Stanley Cup in over 30 years a few months ago, they’ll need to retrace their steps and find their way back to the Cup Final.
They’ll be able to score their way there after reloading offensively by adding names like Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner in free agency. However, question marks will remain on defense outside of their star pairing of Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm. There isn’t a ton of stability behind them, and while trade acquisition Ty Emberson should be a cost-effective replacement for Cody Ceci, declining play from Nurse is a significant concern.
Draisaitl will play out 2023-24 under his previous contract, earning $8M in actual salary in the final season of the eight-year, $68M deal he signed coming off his entry-level contract in 2017.
More must-reads:
- Blues veteran defenseman to undergo season-ending ankle surgery
- Former first-round pick heading overseas amid disappointing NHL stint
- The 'NHL goals leaders' quiz
Trending slideshow: Every NHL player to score 60 or more goals in a season (Provided by Yardbarker)