Leon Draisaitl won't do the Oilers any favours in contract negotiations

You may or may not remember back at the beginning of July, when Leon Draisaitl's agent Jiri Poner set a deadline of the end of August for the Edmonton Oilers to get a contract extension agreed. At the time, we wrote that we believed it was just all bluster on the part of Poner.

Well, with just three days to go until the end of the month, we're about to find out for sure if Poner is all talk or not. At the time of writing, the Oilers have yet to get that new deal sorted out with Draisaitl's camp.

In addition to a situation which is dragging on longer than anyone would like, don't expect the German superstar to do the Oilers front office any favours. At least according to the Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli.

Seravalli was making an appearance on Sportsnet 960 The Fan on Wednesday, to discuss the latest on the Draisaitl contract situation. He said: "... if the Oilers were thinking heading into this process that he's going to take a significant team-friendly discount, I think the early indications are that's not the case."

Money talks as usual

In this respect, Seravalli gave his take on how much Draisaitl will be looking at per season, on a deal which will more than likely be for eight years. He said: "I think in the end the number is going to end up being probably one that starts with a 14, if not just a shade under it."

This is interesting, in so much as a figure of around $14 million per season is higher than some of the other estimates being floated around the media. For example, Finn Marceau of The Hockey News and Evolving Hockey both predict Draisaitl will get $13.5 million per season.

With Draisaitl's camp not looking to give the Oilers a team-friendly discount, this has led to a snag in negotiations. During another radio appearance, on Oilers Now with Breden Escott, Seravalli said: "On a money basis (Average Annual Value), I think these two sides are a little further apart than I envisioned."

There IS a deadline coming

Even though we never believed the end of August was an immovable deadline, this doesn't mean there isn't one for the Oilers to get this prickly situation resolved. Joshua Marshall of the 2 Mutts Podcast claims if a deal is not agreed by Sept. 19, Draisaitl will not negotiate any further, as he does not want to be distracted during the season.

With this in mind, the urgency of the situation increases with every passing day, but at least it sounds as if Draisaitl and the Oilers are doing something about it. As per Marshall, the five-time All-Star is due to be in Edmonton any day now, to speak with general manager Stan Bowman in person.

Where feasible, meeting in person is usually the best thing to do when it comes to any type of negotiation, so at least this is one positive. Interestingly, Marshall also predicts it will take $13.5 million per season to get the deal done, as opposed to the $14 million -- give or take -- Seravalli is talking about.

Regardless, it's still going to be a lot of money - in fact, whatever Draisaitl does eventually agree to, his AAV will take over from Auston Matthews' $13.25 million, as the highest in NHL history. The concern for Oilers fans, is the possibility that -- no matter how small -- he could potentially agree his new deal with a new team.

Overall, we do believe that Draisaitl will re-sign with the Oilers and remain in Edmonton for a long time to come. Just don't ask us to predict how much his new deal will be for.

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