Oilers' Open Extension Negotiations With Leon Draisaitl
06/15/2024 05:35 PM
The Edmonton Oilers have a stressful summer ahead, with 12 pending free agents currently a part of their Stanley Cup run and just $10MM in projected cap space. That’s enough of a headache – but to add to it, the team will have to keep in mind the major paychecks due to their superstars over the next two summers. Both Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard will need new deals in 2025, while Connor McDavid will challenge contract records once again in 2026. Frank Seravalli of the Daily Faceoff recently joined Oilers Now with Bob Stauffer to discuss the looming payday, projecting that the trio of stars will cost a total of $40MM when all is said and done. Seravalli broke that down to $16MM going to McDavid, $14MM going to Draisaitl, and $10MM going to Bouchard.
Seravalli went on to discuss Draisaitl’s looming negotiations in-depth, sharing that the star German forward is interested in signing a long-term deal near the league maximum – as opposed to a short-term and relatively cheaper deal like Auston Matthews’ four-year, $53MM contract. At 28, a long-term deal would take Draisaitl through the majority of his remaining career and cement his place as career batterymate of McDavid. Seravalli believes the Oilers have already opened discussions of an extension with Draisaitl’s camp, as they look to both lock up their core and chip into their looming bills as quickly as possible.
Should these projections hold true, the Oilers would need to ensure they had $24MM to go to Draisaitl and Bouchard next summer. The league salary cap is projected to reach $92MM ahead of the 2025-26 season, per CapFriendly, after seeing a record-tying $4.5MM increase to $88MM this summer. Another increase would go a long way toward helping Edmonton’s budgeting. The Oilers don’t have many players entering free agency in 2025, and get a bit of a boost by Cody Ceci’s $3.25MM cap hit coming off the books, but they’ll again have to look towards the future, with Evander Kane, Stuart Skinner, Mattias Ekholm, and Brett Kulak set to join McDavid in 2026’s free agency class.
Edmonton boasts an exciting opportunity to lock in three franchise cornerstones as career Oilers. It’s hard to argue a case against any of them – the trio currently leads Edmonton in postseason scoring and would likely compete for the Conn Smythe Trophy should Edmonton turn the series around. Bouchard’s emergence as a true top defenseman, capable of playing upwards of 25 minutes a night, has propelled Edmonton into a team capable of being carried by their star talent, while Draisaitl has emerged as one of the few players in the NHL capable of rivaling McDavid’s scoring. The Oilers seem plenty aware of those accolades and are now taking the first steps towards securing their future by kicking off contract talks with Draisaitl.
