Leon Draisaitl’s Next Contract

The Oilers have quite a few players that will be needing new contracts in the next two years with Connor McDavid obviously being numero uno priority.

While Patrick Maroon, Zack Kassian and Kris Russell will also be looking for new deals, the Oilers are going to have to be very suave in their dealing with Leon Draisaitl.

Draisaitl came in like Mack truck last season forming a solid duo with Taylor Hall. I was among the many who were concerned that he would struggle without Hallsy, but I’m also one of the first to admit I was wrong.

The Deutschland Dangler or German Gretzky as he is called has been lights out this year providing a solid option outside of Connor McDavid down the middle. Draisaitl has scored 13 goals and 13 assists for 26 points in 32 games. That’s a 33-33-66 pace.

King Leon will be in need of a new contract at the end of the season and his new deal will be something the Oilers need to nail. Connor McDavid is sure to command at least $10 million per on his deal at the end of next season, so keeping Draisaitl’s cap hit at a manageable rate will be another high priority.

The Oilers have options. They can sign Draisaitl to a bridge deal for two or three years for a low cap, but that risks his following contract to be astronomical.

The other option is to lock up Leon to a long term deal with a more manageable cap hit. This season proves last year was no fluke and to quote Bob Stauffer “Leon still doesn’t know how good he really is.”

It’s unfortunate that the Oilers kept Draisaitl for too long during his rookie year, because we could have held his contract over into next season, but due to MacT and Eakins incompetence, the Oilers will have to pay him dearly soon.

BRIDGE DEAL

If the Oilers decide to go the way of the bridge, they could give Draisaitl a deal similar to Ryan Johansen’s three year bridge contract. Johansen made $4 million per year and now will be seeking a much bigger deal with longer term when he signs with the Predators.

If Draisaitl keeps up his 30-goal pace this year and signs a similar deal, he would be a bargain at $4 million per.

The biggest issue is that Draisaitl could become a 70-point player by the end of that deal and command double dollars. Not many 70-point players make less than $6.5 million and I don’t think the Oilers could afford McDavid at $10 million, and Draisaitl at $8 million.

I know that the Penguins have more than that with Crosby and Malkin, but it is still incredibly difficult to keep a competitive team with that much money tied up into two players.

The Oilers would need to rely on contributions from players near the league minimum to play strong roles like the Pens’ Bryan Rust, Matt Cullen, and Connor Sheary. Now it could be done, but I would be scared to use the bridge deal.

LONG TERM DEAL

I have seen enough of Draisaitl’s play to believe he will be a strong NHL player for many years to come. I know he has another gear and that is why I believe he deserves a long term deal.

Draisaitl’s camp will likely argue that Draisaitl is worth more than three $6 million dollar men in Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Milan Lucic, so that’s the line in the sand.

The good things about a long term deal is that you can front old money and keep the cap hit down.

I believe that Draisaitl is on a similar trajectory as Anze Kopitar was early in his career. Kopitar was able to get $6.8 million per season coming off his ELC and I think that is the high water mark on Leon’s next deal.

So to use my given examples, I think the Oilers should try and lock Draisaitl up through eight years with a $6.4 million cap hit. Inflate the beginning portions of the deal with higher numbers if you have to but that’s a good number.

WHERE DOES THAT LEAVE THE REST OF THE TEAM?

This upcoming chart is only speculation and I’m only putting in cap hits, and not actual dollars. For example, Puljujarvi will be in the last year of his ELC but his cap hit is based on bonuses, but by the time Connor gets his new deal, I can see the lineup looking something like this:

Lucic ($6m) McDavid ($10m) Puljujarvi ($3.7m)

_____($3.8m) Draisaitl ($6.4m) Eberle ($6m)

Maroon ($2.6m) Caggiula ($1.7m) Slepyshev ($1.5m)

______($1.3m) Khaira ($1.5m) Pitlick ($1.5m)

Kassian ($1.5m)

D

Klefbom ($4.1m) Larsson ($4.1m)

Sekera ($5.5m) _______ ($4.0m)

Nurse ($3.7m) Benning ($2m)

Simpson ($0.9m)

G

Talbot ($4.1m)

Brossoit ($1.3m)

Cap Total: $74.4 million

As of today the Salary Cap is set at $73 million, but considering the cap rises almost every year, the Oilers would be able to be under the cap but really not by much.

There will come a time when the Oilers will have to move quality players because they can’t afford them, look at the Chicago Blackhawks.

Until then, we can only speculate, but given the template I’ve made here, I think it’s best for the Oilers to sign Draisaitl to a long term deal. Do you agree or disagree ????

Feel free to leave a comment and get into a post war haha!