Draisaitl interested in signing long-term deal with Oilers: report
Contract talks between the Edmonton Oilers and Leon Draisaitl appear to be heating up and a new report is pointing toward the two sides agreeing to a long-term extension.
Now that the Oilers officially have their new GM taken care of in Stan Bowman, all of the team’s focus has seemingly shifted toward getting their German superstar under contract. Draisaitl has one year left on his current deal and could become a UFA next summer if he doesn’t re-sign with Edmonton.
On Monday night’s edition of the OilersNow radio show on 630 CHED, host Bob Stauffer made some interesting claims related to a conversation he had with Mike Liut, one of Draisaitl’s agents.
“It’s going to be a seven or eight-year deal, it’s probably going to be an eight-year deal, realistically,” Stauffer said. “My belief is that it’s going to be an eight-year deal.”
Bowman did say that re-signing Draisaitl was going to be a top priority for him during his introductory press conference last week. Given the fact that Stauffer is getting this information directly from one of Draisaitl’s agents, it’s not a stretch to say that the negotiations are already pretty far along and that a deal could get signed sooner rather than later.
If Draisaitl does indeed sign the dotted line for an eight-year extension, it’s not known what the cap hit of such a contract would look like. His current deal carries a very team-friendly $8.5 million cap hit, so you would expect that Draisaitl would want to get paid on his next deal. Something in the $12.5 to $13.5 million range would make the most sense.
A deal like this would keep Draisaitl with the Oilers until he is 37 and could keep him in the Alberta capital for his entire NHL career. It would be a huge win for Edmonton to lock up a player of his calibre.
In 10 seasons with the Oilers, Draisaitl has eclipsed the 100-point plateau five times and has scored 50 or more goals three more times. He currently sits sixth in Oilers franchise history in total points with 850 and could climb as high as third on an eight-year deal.
It’s the middle of the summer, but Oilers fans will be waiting anxiously for a new deal to be announced for Draisaitl.
Follow Channels and Categories