Earlier this week there was some news that came out that Edmonton Oilers All-Star forward Leon Draisaitl was going to be staying and staying for a long time. Speaking on his Oilers Now radio show, Bob Stauffer said: "It is my belief that we are probably looking at an eight-year deal for Leon. And if I was representing Leon I would want an eight-year deal for a 29-year-old player."
This sent all the Oilers fans into a happy frenzy. While most of us were fairly sure that Draisaitl was going to re-sign with the Oilers, till he does there is always going to be the chance that he doesn't so the news that he was looking long term was music to our years.
Fast forward to this morning, when TSN's Ryan Rishaug re-opened that wound when he announced that there had not been any actual negotiations between the Oilers and the Draisaitl camp. While it is promising that the two sides are about to start talking, I felt a lot better thinking that Leon Draisaitl was for sure staying for at least 7 years.
On Draisaitl extension, sounds like the two sides have been in touch but actual negotiations haven’t started yet, those will commence here shortly. So any notion that it’s close to done is premature as of today.
— Ryan Rishaug (@TSNRyanRishaug) July 31, 2024
For Leon Draisaitl and his camp, they hold all the cards, Draisaitl is one of the best players in the NHL and deserves to be paid as such. With that being said he has to realize that if he gets too much money then the rest of the lineup around him will be affected because, in a salary cap system, you can't have too much money tied in too few players.
I would expect his cap hit to be somewhere around the $13 million mark. He will come in around the same number as Auston Matthews, who has a cap hit of $13.25 million. For the Oilers you are happy to sign him to that amount, even more so if he does sign long term. While there is some risk from the Oilers to sign for 8 years, elite players tend to stay better longer so the risk is small.
While there is still a lot of time before people have to start getting really nervous about this deal, I assume like me, most fans would love for this deal to be announced sooner rather than later.