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Edmonton Oilers Sign Leon Draisaitl To Eight-Year Contract

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The Edmonton Oilers have locked up Leon Draisaitl for eight years and $68MM. The contract comes with an average annual salary of $8.5MM, and will keep the star forward under contract through the 2024-25 season. The contract makes Draisaitl one of the highest paid players in the league, coming in tied for the 10th-highest cap hit in the league next season. "<strong

Amazingly, starting in the 2018-19 season Draisaitl and Connor McDavid will tie for the most expensive duo in the NHL, equalling the $21MM paid to Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. That is despite both of them only just completing their entry-level contracts, and giving away no more than four years of unrestricted free agency. It’s clear that both are superstar talents in the league, but these contracts will put Edmonton in a very top-heavy salary structure going forward, and will need performance from young or cheap players to fill in the gaps.

Draisaitl put up 77 points in his third season, playing quite a bit on McDavid’s wing and showing off his all-around offensive game. In the playoffs he took it to another level, leading the club with 16 points in just 13 games. Though he played on the wing he also does have the ability to line up at center should the Oilers decide to spread out their offense, and could potentially carry a line all by himself. He’s graded out as below average on faceoffs so far in his career, though young players often struggle in that area.

The Oilers already traded Jordan Eberle earlier this offseason to clear out some salary room, and they could easily be forced into that once again in the next few seasons. With players like Milan Lucic, Andrej Sekera and Kris Russell taking up a good chunk of their cap space as they head into their thirties, the team could find itself with little room to re-sign their other young players. Ryan Strome—the return for Eberle—is a restricted free agent himself next summer, along with several others like Matt Benning and Darnell Nurse. The Oilers have more than $60MM already on the books for 2018-19, with only 13 players under contract.

Interestingly, Draisaitl’s contract should have ramifications over just the next few weeks as the Boston Bruins and Columbus Blue Jackets attempt to get their own young players under contract. David Pastrnak especially is comparable to Draisaitl after seeing a big jump in point production in his third season. Pastrnak doesn’t have the same positional flexibility as he’s solely a winger, but has an identical 0.72 points-per-game rate through the early part of his career and has actually done it in much less icetime. The Bruins have just over $10MM in cap space to sign Pastrnak, but it will be interesting to see if they give him that much more than the other big-name forwards on the club. Brad Marchand will be earning just $6.125MM in the first year of his own eight-year extension, and was a Hart Trophy candidate last season.

Back with Edmonton, the team will have Draisaitl under control through his age-29 season (he’ll turn 22 on October 27th of this year) before having to renegotiate a new deal. While that’s still a long way down the road, signing an eight-year deal now puts him in a prime spot to maximize his potential earning down the road.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Morning Notes: Matthews, Boqvist, Vancouver

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While the Edmonton Oilers lock up Connor McDavid and the Buffalo Sabres prepare an extension for Jack Eichel, the Toronto Maple Leafs have their own young phenom to start worrying about. Auston Matthews will be eligible for an extension on July 1st 2018, and James Mirtle of The Athletic was on TSN Radio this morning to discuss the general parameters.

Mirtle disagreed with the idea that players are upset at McDavid for taking less than the maximum, but did admit that it will set a sort of ceiling on any contract coming out of an entry-level deal. He suspects Matthews will earn around $11MM per season on his eventual deal. While the Maple Leafs are currently playing games with long-term injured reserve just to stay under the cap, they’ll have plenty of room by 2019 when Matthews (and Mitch Marner) are due for huge raises. The team has just six active skaters signed for that year, and could easily have some prospects still working through their ELC to help balance the check book.

  • Grant McCagg of Recrutes.ca released his latest “Grant’s Slant” piece today, discussing the emerging draft stock of Adam Boqvist and how he could challenge Rasmus Dahlin as the top option out of Sweden next year. Boqvist played extremely well at the Ivan Hlinka tournament and McCagg points at recent examples—Oliver Kylington and Timothy Liljegren in particular—of Swedish defenders falling rapidly in their draft year. It doesn’t look like Dahlin will give up his spot at the top of most draft boards next spring, but it would be silly to sleep on Boqvist who will be a top prospect in his own right.
  • Rick Dhaliwal of News 1130 in Vancouver has been all over the Alex Kerfoot situation, and now reports that the NCAA free agent will visit the Canucks today. That will be his first visit, but it won’t be his only one as “several teams” have been in contact with his camp. The former Harvard captain did not sign with the New Jersey Devils before the deadline, and has been linked to his hometown Canucks for some time. The undersized forward has a nice skill set but like many other college free agents could have limited upside in the long-term.

NCAA Notes: Butcher, Toninato, Clifton

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Today is finally the day that graduating NCAA draft picks shed their former teams and become unrestricted free agents, and Will Butcher has already been linked to a half dozen teams. One team he won’t be talking to? Tampa Bay, who according to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times are “not among the early suitors” for the reigning Hobey Baker award winner.

Butcher is expected to sign within the next week, and all along has said he’s open to starting the year in the AHL if it meant coming aboard with a franchise with recent success or at least trending towards a championship. Whether that holds true in the face of an opening day NHL role in places like New Jersey and Buffalo is still to be seen.

  • Dominic Toninato is another name to keep an eye on, after he went unsigned by the Toronto Maple Leafs because of their contract squeeze. Matt Wellens of the Duluth News Tribune reports that the Maple Leafs did in fact offer Toninato an entry-level contract last spring after his junior season, but found themselves without any room this summer. Toninato could be one of the first names off the board, since he was given permission to speak with other teams early. The 6’2″ forward isn’t the usual undersized offering from the college ranks, and has considerable potential in a bottom-six role.
  • Among other names to watch from the college ranks is Connor Clifton, who didn’t sign with the Arizona Coyotes after four years at Quinnipiac. The in-your-face defender took a slight step backwards this year on a worse team, but could still provide some depth on the blueline for a club around the league. He’s still just 22, relatively young for a college free agent, and plays about as physical as you can for a 5’11” 175-lbs player.

Red Wings Notes: Abdelkader, Sheahan, Green

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WDIV’s Dave Bartkowiak lists five Red Wings who need to dramatically improve this season in order for Detroit to return to the playoffs. Justin Abdelkader, Danny DeKeyser, Dylan Larkin, Gustav Nyquist, and Riley Sheahan are the players he points to as needing to raise their games in 2017-18. Of the four forwards, Bartkowiak is insistent that the defensive aspect of Larkin and Sheahan’s game must improve. He adds that Sheahan shouldn’t have ice time “dished out” to him with such a poor shooting percentage and his inability to find the net. Such a fact was a consistent gripe all season, as Sheahan continued to log minutes on the power play despite not scoring a single goal until the final game of the season. Abdelkader, who Bartkowiak calls a leader on the team, believes Abdelkader is a 20-goal scorer if healthy. A look at the trend of Abdelkader’s stats, however, point to a player who benefitted from having Pavel Datsyuk on his line in 2014-15. A glance at his entire career where he played 40 or more games, Abdelkader produced more than 30 points only twice. Out of those eight seasons, he recorded just one twenty-goal season, though he had 19 in 2015-16. Regardless, asking for another 20-goal season may be a bit much based on past performance.

  • Mike Green was recently profiled by NHL.com’s Dana Wakaji who writes that the defenseman has been the offensive presence on the blue line that Detroit envisioned when they signed him two offseasons ago. The 32-year-old probably won’t hit the 70+ point campaigns he’s had in the past, but Wakaji adds that he’s a valuable offensive asset for a team starving for goals from its defensive pairings. Heading into the final year of his contract, Green could also be a prime trade chip should the Red Wings not be in the playoff hunt for a second consecutive season.

Central Notes: Fletcher, Avalanche

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NBC Sports’ James O’Brien wonders if Minnesota Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher could be feeling the heat this season if the Wild don’t get over the hump and see more playoff success. Fletcher has a five season playoff streak to his name, but a long list of playoff frustrations go along with that streak. O’Brien writes that the Bruce Boudreau edition of the Wild “pushed for something bigger” but ultimately fell short. Indeed, the Wild still led the Central Division up until March, when they sputtered and yielded the division crown to the Chicago Blackhawks. Former coach Mike Yeo led the Wild to two consecutive second round appearances but both resulted in losses to the Blackhawks.  Fletcher won the Zach Parise/Ryan Suter sweepstakes during the summer of 2012, but the team hasn’t cashed in on a Stanley Cup, or at the least, a conference final appearance. Under Boudreau, their scoring and performance increased but it still resulted in a disappointing five game, first round exit to the St. Louis Blues.

O’Brien bets that if there’s ever a time that the heat is turned up on Fletcher, it’s this season. Returning a similar but slightly weaker team in 2017-18, the Wild are expected again to be in the playoffs. But another lackluster playoff showing–or worse–and the Wild might be looking for their third general manager in team history.

  • So where did it all go wrong for the Colorado Avalanche and their working relationship with Will Butcher? The Denver Post’s Mike Chambers answered this question and a whole host of Avs-related inquiries this afternoon. Chamber says that between the team not wanting to sign him while Patrick Roy was still on board to the Avs’ notoriously bad 2016-17 season, no one can blame Butcher for looking elsewhere. Chambers also predicts that the Avs will see a lot of empty seats this season due to an ineffective offseason and that it may be a long, painful process before the Avalanche return to respectability.

A Recent History Of Late-Summer RFA Signings

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The hockey world has been swirling around David Pastrnak for the past few days, as negotiations with the Boston Bruins drag on late into the summer. Fans of the team are beginning to get nervous that there might be something standing in the way of a long-term deal, even while the Bruins’ front office assures everyone that they won’t be moving on from their young star. It’s not just Pastrnak though, as this summer seems to have a disproportional amount of high-level restricted free agents still unsigned into the middle of August. Leon Draisaitl, Alexander Wennberg, Bo Horvat, Connor Brown, Damon Severson and Andreas Athanasiou and many more are waiting for their next contracts and inching closer and closer to missing some of training camp.

Naturally, anyone’s instinct is to think that the longer the negotiation goes on, the more animosity can be built between the two sides. This is simply not true, and it’s been shown time and again that some RFAs—especially those who are coming off exceptional seasons—are in for long negotiations. It’s hard to remember how many players make it late in the summer without contracts once the season begins, so here is some of the history of some high profile late-summer RFA signings the last few years:

2016

Sean Monahan signs on August 19th. Seven years, $44.6MM.

Cody Ceci signs on August 23rd. Two years, $5.6MM.

Ryan Strome signs on September 20th. Two years, $5.0MM.

Johnny Gaudreau signs on October 10th. Six years, $40.5MM.

Nikita Kucherov signs on October 11th. Three years, $14.3MM.

Rasmus Ristolainen signs on October 11th. Six years, $32.4MM.

2015

Jonathan Bernier signs on August 2nd. Two years, $8.3MM.

Brock Nelson signs on September 16th. Three years, $7.5MM.

2014

P.K. Subban signs on August 2nd. Eight years, $72MM.

Tyson Barrie signs on September 7th. Two years, $5.2MM.

Danny DeKeyser signs on September 20th. Two years, $4.4MM.

Nino Niederreiter signs on September 20th. Three years, $8MM.

Ryan Ellis signs on October 5th. Five years, $12.5MM.

Jaden Schwartz signs on October 5th. Two years, $4.7MM.

Ryan Johansen signs on October 6th. Three years, $12MM.

2013

Adam Henrique signs on August 27th. Six years, $24MM.

Mikkel Boedker signs on September 7th. Two years, $5.1MM.

Marcus Johansson signs on September 8th. Two years, $4MM.

Nazem Kadri signs on September 10th. Two years, $5.8MM.

Alex Pietrangelo signs on September 14th. Seven years, $45.5MM.

Derek Stepan signs on September 26th. Two years, $6.2MM.

Poll: Who Will Have The Best Chance At The 2018 #1 Pick?

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The Edmonton Oilers have an interesting relationship with the first-overall pick. In 2016 they traded away two former top selections in Taylor Hall and Nail Yakupov, while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins remains in trade speculation as the team looks towards a troubling future salary structure. None of those three became the franchise-leading players they had hoped for, with Yakupov not even turning into a reliable regular. Still, Connor McDavid came through a few years later and almost immediately rejuvenated a franchise and brought them back from being one of the laughing stocks of the league. The first-overall pick is no guarantee, but it can surely change an organization if you pick the right one.

Toronto and Pittsburgh can relate. The latter was near-bankrupt before Marc-Andre Fleury and Sidney Crosby came along in the span of a couple of years (with a #2 Evgeni Malkin jammed in between) and have risen to the level of the NHL’s elite, while the former was the butt of almost every joke going back almost 50 years. Auston Matthews changed that for the Maple Leafs, though he and his other young stars have still yet to even win a single playoff series.

New Jersey hopes that Nico Hischier more like Matthews and less like Yakupov, though there’s no guarantee on his performance at the next level. The young Swiss forward has all the potential in the world, but will have to prove that he can keep taking steps forward in his development. If he makes the Devils out of camp perhaps Hall can help him deal with the pressures a #1 pick faces each and every night.

That brings us to this year, where some teams will fight for a Stanley Cup and others will pray for a few lottery balls. Teams that miss the playoffs all have a chance at selecting first, like the Devils, Flyers and Stars did this year. The Devils had the best chance of the three, but weren’t even in the top 3 league wide. 15 teams will miss this season after the addition of the Vegas Golden Knights, and one team will be given the greatest chance to have their choice of Andrei Svechnikov, Rasmus Dahlin or whoever else pushes their way into the first-overall conversation.

We ask you, who will finish last in the league this season and have the best shot at the #1 pick?

[Mobile users click here to vote!]

Snapshots: Desjardins, Iginla, Dahlstrom, Blue Jackets

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Willie Desjardins won’t be in the NHL this year, but he’ll still be one of the more talked-about coached in hockey. He’ll be leading Team Canada on their journey to the Olympics, this time without the benefit of NHL-level players. Speaking with Rick Dhaliwal today of News 1130 in Vancouver, Desjardins spoke about several players including Shane Doan and Jarome Iginla.

Confirming that the pair are still looking for NHL contracts, Desjardins also said that it would be tough for them to jump into the Olympic speed if they weren’t playing anywhere come February. That might be the case for one or both of them though, as there doesn’t seem to be much interest around the league for the aging stars. Iginla had some redeeming qualities at the trade deadline and picked up his play for the Los Angeles Kings down the stretch, but both are now 40-years old and would need a team to really go out on a limb to give them an NHL deal.

  • Scott Powers of The Athletic goes in depth on Chicago Blackhawks prospect John Dahlstrom, who you can no longer call Mr. Irrelevant in the NHL. The very last pick of the 2015 draft, Dahlstrom will return to Sweden instead of playing in the USHL this season, and try to earn an entry-level contract next year. The 20-year old forward recorded 30 goals and 59 points for the Medicine Hat Tigers of the WHL this year, and has legitimate prospect status despite his draft pedigree.
  • Aaron Portzline made his much-anticipated debut for The Athletic’s Cleveland chapter, bringing his usual insight into the Columbus Blue Jackets and explaining all the upcoming decisions for the team over the next month. He includes an interesting quote from GM Jarmo Kekalainen, saying that he’s willing to make a trade or do whatever is needed regardless of whether the season has started or not. This was in response to some questions about Matt Duchene, a deal that Portzline still sees as a perfect fit between the two clubs.

Will Butcher To Meet With Buffalo, New Jersey, Vegas

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Though he’s not able to actually sign a contract anywhere until tomorrow, Will Butcher has already set up some visits. Mike Chambers of the Denver Post reports that the DU Pioneers’ captain will meet with the Buffalo Sabres, New Jersey Devils and Vegas Golden Knights among others tomorrow after becoming a free agent. Butcher has been previously linked—however tenuously—to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, Pittsburgh Penguins and Chicago Blackhawks.

Butcher has said he won’t rule out Colorado in his free agency, but after being snubbed by the team (and specifically then head coach Patrick Roy) in 2015, still seems like a long shot to end up in Denver. Instead, two of his three teams are obvious choices if he wants to contribute right away. Buffalo and New Jersey both have their eyes set on the playoffs and need huge defensive upgrades if they’re going to get there, and Vegas is looking for core players to build their team around. The 22-year old Butcher will be signing a two-year entry-level deal wherever he signs, though bonus structures can vary.

He and he agent have been clear that immediate opportunity is not the only thing Butcher is looking for, and a winning organization will also be considered, but playing big minutes in your first two years is the only way to get a big raise after your entry-level deal expires. In New Jersey and Buffalo he’d be given that opportunity.

Even though Vegas is the new kid on the block and is probably after any premium free agent, there doesn’t seem to be a great fit there. The Golden Knights already have seven or eight NHL-level left-handed defensemen in their system, and if they can’t move any they’re already in for a roster crunch at the start of the year. Butcher will be waiver exempt when he enters the league and would be the easy choice for them to move to the minors.

Alexey Marchenko Heads To KHL, Wants NHL Return Eventually

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Yesterday Alexey Marchenko was placed on unconditional waivers by the Toronto Maple Leafs ahead of a mutual contract termination, with many suspecting he’d return to the KHL for the upcoming season. That has been confirmed by his agent Dan Milstein, who also reports that Marchenko would like to return to the NHL at some point in the future. Milstein didn’t confirm which team Marchenko would play for, though it’s widely believed that CSKA Moscow will be his destination. Igor Eronko of Sport-Express reports that it will be a three-year deal. The Maple Leafs will gain a contract slot and $1.45MM in cap space for this season, the same amount Marchenko was due in the final year of his contract.

Both the cap space and contract slot are huge assets for the Maple Leafs, who remain over the $75MM salary cap and now have 48/50 players under contract. That’s not including Connor Brown, who is a restricted free agent but expected to sign before the start of training camp. Brown and Maple Leafs GM Lou Lamoriello have expressed no concern over negotiations, and likely wer waiting for transactions like this in order to free up some room.

The Maple Leafs could also now be players in NCAA free agency tomorrow, when Will Butcher and Alex Kerfoot will headline a group of players that also includes former Toronto draft pick Dominic Toninato. Toninato has said that there wasn’t room for him in Toronto in the past, which could have just changed with the termination of Marchenko. Still, Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News listed the Maple Leafs as a possible destination for Butcher, though another left-handed defenseman seems unlikely for a team already loaded with them.

A final possibility is now free agency for the Maple Leafs, as they previously couldn’t have added another player without risking their not being room for Brown to sign. With several useful names still out there, the upstart Toronto team could add some more veteran presence to one of the youngest squads in the league.

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