What new Leon Draisaitl contract means to the Oilers - 7 takeaways

I'll save you the actual announcement of the Leon Draisaitl signing, because it's been rehashed to death already on every website and sports-themed TV show and radio broadcast already, including us.

Thus, I will assume you've heard it already and spare you the actual news item. Instead, let's focus on what Draisaitl re-signing with the Oilers means for the landscape of hockey here in Edmonton and to a lesser extent Alberta and Canada.

1. Daryl Katz is for real as an owner

After you come up with the liquid cash to buy an NHL team and have been approved by the league and the paperwork is done, the job of an NHL team's owner is, for the most part, to fade into the background until there's an announcement to the club that's so major it requires your attention.

History has shown us time and time again, that once the initial transaction is complete, then an NHL team's owner really only has three duties to his/her name - 1) Make sure your team has the resources to compete for a Stanley Cup 2) Hire good hockey people to run your franchise and 3) Get out of their way. Darryl Katz has taken this to heart. He has the deep pockets this team needs to compete in the modern NHL. He had the vision to see what a golden touch Pat Laforge had as CEO, and thus didn't replace him when he bought the team in 2008, until 2014 when Laforge was nearing retirement and thus a succession plan was necessary. At which time Katz forked out millions of dollars to bring Hockey Canada boss Bob Nicholson into the fold (Laforge would retire in 2015 in what at the time was a sort of unofficial demotion the previous year as COO).

Then, when Nicholson wanted to step away from the spotlight, and wanting to keep his #1 star in Connor McDavid happy, Katz had the vision to hire Jeff Jackson as replacement last year (Nicholson has since stepped down to an advisory role). Katz has been such a good owner of the Oilers over the past 16 years that the Oilers, who in the late 90s were right on the cusp of moving just like the Winnipeg Jets (1.0) and Quebec Nordiques did, now as of 2023 rank as the seventh most valuable franchise in the NHL according to Forbes magazine. Further, they are in fact second (!) in the entire league in operating income - only the Maple Laffs generate more and then it's only $127 million vs. $122 million, that's it.

Think about that for a minute. The Oilers are actually one of the smallest markets in the league in terms of population to draw revenue from, and yet they produce more operating income than everywhere else except for Toronto, a city whose Metro population is over six million people, which is six times the size of Edmonton.

The city of New York has eight times the population of Edmonton, and yet the Islanders and Rangers COMBINED make less operating income than the Oilers! That's $99 million vs $122 million, in case you're wondering. They have the Canucks beat by more than double, despite the fact Vancouver has almost three times the population Edmonton does. The Panthers, the Oilers' opponents in last season's Cup Final, made a mere $6 million in operating income in 2023 - and they also went to the Cup Final that year. Chicago has three times the population Edmonton has, yet the Oilers made almost $30 million more than the Hawks did in 2023. Even Montreal, long considered Canada's hockey mecca, with a population almost double Edmonton's, made $23 million less than the Oilers did. The L.A. Kings, the highest valued of the California teams, has a population almost four times that of Edmonton, yet the Kings finished below the Oilers in 2023 operating income by $14 million - and they're the only other team in the league over $100 million besides the Oilers and Leafs.

Gone are the days of Peter Pocklington, a shyster of a businessman who literally burned all his bridges in the local business community, to the point where he was taking his Oilers profits and using the majority of them to prop up the rest of his failing business empire. This resulted in the dismantling of the 80s dynasty, because Pocklington took too much money out of the Oilers coffers and was unable to keep up with the escalating salaries of the day. Gone also are the days of the EIG, whose mandate was simply to survive until a salary cap was brought in. Gone are the days of 90s stars like Doug Weight, Bill Guerin, Curtis Joseph, Janne Niinimaa, Dave Manson and more being forced to be traded, because the Oilers couldn't afford to pay them past a certain point.

With Katz at the helm, the Oilers no longer have to worry about losing McDavid and Draisaitl, unless they want to play somewhere else. The same thing goes for the supporting cast like Zach Hyman, Evan Bouchard, Mattias Ekholm, and the rest. Now the Oilers get to enjoy what clubs like the Rangers, Stars, Avalanche, and others have enjoyed for decades now - getting star players and keeping them, ensuring a competitive team for many years to come.

2. Edmonton is now a destination for players

This is down to a combination of the state of the art rink they play in and the dressing room they use, the (usually) respectful nature of the fans when players are out in the city in public, the lower cost of living relative to other NHL cities, the supportive nature of their owner, and of course McDavid. Add in the city's thriving arts and restaurant scenes and list of many attractions, and the Oilers are a destination team, which will only intensify with the Cup run completed this past June.

The same thing goes for Draisaitl - between McDavid, the great rink, and the fact that he's happy here, what possible reason would there be to leave? Anyone suggesting Draisaitl leaving was his first instinct clearly wasn't paying attention to the post-pandemic cap situation - any other NHL destination that was a cup contender didn't have the cap space for him, and any franchise that did have the cup space is a losing team that won't win a cup for a long time. Draisaitl would never get the sort of perks he gets in Edmonton anywhere else.

Edmonton may not have the weather of California or the energy of New York City/Toronto, or the culture of Montreal to draw players, but in terms of day to day life, NHL players have it pretty good here. Compare traffic from LA, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, or New York City to Edmonton, for example, and it's no contest. Edmonton has all of them beat. Same thing when it comes to buying a house - you can get a much bigger house in Edmonton for what you'd pay in New York.

It also helps that Edmonton is an experimental retail hub for all of Canada - any stores, especially US brands, that are trying to make their way in the Canadian market will oftentimes open up in Edmonton first. This brings players who are American transplants one step closer to feeling like they're home.

Most of all, the Oilers are now a winning team and a Cup contender - and Draisaitl is a huge part of that. Who wouldn't want to come play on the team with the two best players in the league steering the ship? Try everyone.

3. The Boston and San Jose rumors were a bunch of bullplop

Someone along the way made up some ridiculous bull that Draisaitl was going to leave Edmonton and sign in Boston instead. That was never going to happen, and there are three good reasons for it - 1) Boston didn't have the cap space to sign him. At the time of writing this, the Bruins only have $8.6 million in cap space, just over half of what the Oilers will be paying him when his new deal kicks in. This means the Bruins would've had to get rid of a huge chunk of their team to fit his deal in. It was never going to happen. This was an idea that never should've gotten off the ground. 2) They already made a big splash at center when they signed Elias Lindholm in free agency. 3) They already have a poop ton of centers as it is. Just look at it. No cap space and no roster spot - pretty compelling reasons not to sign a guy.

The San Jose rumor is even more farfetched. Supposedly, because a German guy owns the San Jose Sharks, Draisaitl was going to jump ship to his team. That's even more laughable than the Boston rumor. After all, Draisaitl already spent the first six seasons of his career playing on a rebuilding team. Why would he leave to play on another rebuilding team and experience that losing all over again, just because the owner is German? Doesn't make any sense. Not to mention if a deal was actually plausible in the least, you can bet Stan Bowman would ask for the one guy they would probably never give up - Macklin Celebrini - and that's just for starters.

If a Saudi prince bought an NHL team, does that mean we suddenly see an influx of hockey players from Saudi Arabia? Hardly. Just because a couple of guys share nationalities, doesn't mean they're best buddies for life. Germany has over 80 million people in it. Doesn't mean everybody knows each other.

4. McDavid's next deal will have an AAV of $15 million at the absolute minimum

If the second-best player in the league just set the franchise and league record in AAV, do you think McDavid will accept anything less? Not a chance. McDavid's current pact is up after the 2025-26 season, and he's the only guy in the league we can say is better than Draisaitl.

With his extension, Draisaitl becomes both the franchise's and the league's highest paid player, but that will all change once McDavid's next deal kicks in. We now have a line in the sand drawn, at least at the bottom. At the top? Who knows? He can ask for the CBA max that year and he knows it, as does Bowman.