1:09 p.m.: A whopping $104MM of Draisaitl’s $112MM total compensation will be paid via signing bonuses, PuckPedia reports. His base salary will be $1MM per season. He’ll earn $15.5MM in signing bonuses annually from 2025-26 through 2027-28. That figure drops to $13MM in 2028-29, then $11.5MM in 2029-30, then $11MM annually for the final three years of the deal.
9:16 a.m.: Superstar Oilers center Leon Draisaitl has signed an eight-year, $112MM extension to keep him in Edmonton through the 2032-33 season, the team announced. He’s now the NHL’s highest-paid player with an average annual value of $14MM, as initially reported by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
Draisaitl has a full no-movement clause for the life of the contract, per Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic. He adds the deal carries a front-loaded structure, although the specific salary breakdown has yet to be reported.
The 28-year-old Draisaitl also lands the second-largest contract by total value in NHL history, trailing only Alex Ovechkin’s 13-year, $124MM deal with the Capitals signed under the previous Collective Bargaining Agreement in 2008.
“This is a historic day for the Edmonton Oilers,” general manager Stan Bowman said in a team press release. “Leon’s commitment to our team, our city and Oilers fans everywhere cannot be overstated. His desire to help bring a Stanley Cup title home to Edmonton is central to everything he does both on and off the ice.”
While it was widely expected Draisaitl would sign a max-term extension to stay in Edmonton, few thought he’d be the first player to land a $14MM AAV. There was no guarantee he’d eclipse Auston Matthews’ $13.25MM AAV to become the new highest-paid player in the league, let alone shatter it. However, since Bowman took the GM’s office in July, extension discussions have been reportedly smooth, which, in hindsight, should have been a strong indication that the Oilers were willing to shell out record-breaking cash to keep the German star in Edmonton.
Unlike his other generational teammate, Connor McDavid, Draisaitl wasn’t an impact piece immediately upon arriving in the NHL. The 2014 third-overall pick had just two goals and nine points in 37 games during his post-draft year. He developed into a high-end top-six piece over the coming years, routinely hitting over 20 goals and 70 points, but hadn’t quite captured the aura of a superstar.
That all changed in 2018-19. While the Oilers missed the playoffs for the 12th time in 13 years, it was a proper breakout campaign for Draisaitl, who led the team in goals (50) and finished second behind McDavid in points with 105. Since that season, Edmonton has made the playoffs every year, and Draisaitl has recorded or been on pace for over 100 points in an 82-game year. A two-time year-end All-Star, Draisaitl also took home the Art Ross, Hart, and Pearson awards/trophies during the 2019-20 season after leading the league with 67 assists and 110 points in 71 games.
The Cologne-born pivot is also one of the most prolific playoff performers in league history. His 108 points in 74 postseason games work out to 1.46 P/GP, which is fourth all-time among players with at least 50 games of playoff experience. Only Wayne Gretzky (1.84), Mario Lemieux (1.61), and McDavid (1.58) have produced more on a nightly basis when the games matter most. It’s especially impressive when considering Draisaitl has played through injuries for a good chunk of the past three postseasons.
For the rest of the league, they now have certainty that the best available potential 2025 unrestricted free agent won’t hit the open market. There’s a chance he could have landed even more money per season with the salary cap expected to rise to at least $92MM for 2025-26, but the total value likely would have been smaller with a seven-year maximum.
Even after declining to match the rich offer sheets levied by the Blues for Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway last month, Bowman and the Oilers now find themselves in a seriously precarious salary cap situation for 2025-26. They already have a projected cap hit of $77.4MM, per PuckPedia, leaving them $14.6MM to re-sign pending RFA defenseman Evan Bouchard and fill at least three other roster spots (assuming a $92MM upper limit). 38.9% of next season’s spending is already dedicated solely to Draisaitl, McDavid, and Darnell Nurse.
As such, the Oilers’ directive to win a championship in the Draisaitl/McDavid era is clearer than it’s ever been in 2024-25. After falling one game short of their first Stanley Cup in over 30 years a few months ago, they’ll need to retrace their steps and find their way back to the Cup Final.
They’ll be able to score their way there after reloading offensively by adding names like Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner in free agency. However, question marks will remain on defense outside of their star pairing of Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm. There isn’t a ton of stability behind them, and while trade acquisition Ty Emberson should be a cost-effective replacement for Cody Ceci, declining play from Nurse is a significant concern.
Draisaitl will play out 2023-24 under his previous contract, earning $8MM in actual salary in the final season of the eight-year, $68MM deal he signed coming off his entry-level contract in 2017.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Over / Under Matthews contract AAV?
Over. Gotta pay the Edmonton tax
Edmonton tax?
He signed an 8 year deal with the Cap expected to increase significantly. By year 5 it will be below market.
Meanwhile Matthews only signed a 4 year deal, so he will be able to cash in on a bigger salary in 4 years.
Add $13.25M x4 to $17 M x 4. Thats a lot more than Leon got.
Good for him, bad for oilers fans expecting a dynasty
Ridiculous, if the players are not able to share the cap, they will never win anything
That’s up to the team, not the players. He just spent six years getting underpaid and didn’t win anything, anyways.
To quote the enterprising Marlo Stanfield: “Price of the brick going up!”
He’s probably worth the contract, but man does it feel nice to see Bowman hamstring another franchise with these long term deals
I second that. This is Bowman’s MO. You think Oilers fans have figured out yet the GM they hired never played a single game of pro hockey?
I guess Scotty Bowman was pretty lousy as he never played pro hockey either.
Agreed. You don’t have to play in the show to know how to be a decent GM. That goes for all sports, not just the NHL.
“Bowman was the general manager of the Blackhawks from 2009 to 2021, during which time the team won three Stanley Cups in 2010, 2013, and 2015.”
Before you flame someone, remember: Reading is important, along with a knowledge of hockey history.
Funny thing is, just yesterday I was reading on the web a page dedicated to all the trades Bowman made as blackhawks GM. There is a vompanion page to all of his draft picks.
you can find it here link to bing.com?!&&p=0c53a1ddea7aa6ecJmltdHM9MTcyNTQwODAwMCZpZ3VpZD0wMzRhZDkwMy02N2RhLTYwZDItMDQxMy1jODMyNjNkYTY2OWEmaW5zaWQ9NTE1Mg&ptn=3&ver=2&hsh=3&fclid=034ad903-67da-60d2-0413-c83263da669a&psq=stan+bowman+blackhawks+trade+history&u=a1aHR0cHM6Ly9jb21taXR0ZWRpbmRpYW5zLmNvbS9zdGFuLWJvd21hbi1oaXN0b3J5LWFzLWNoaWNhZ28tYmxhY2toYXdrcy1nbS8jOn46dGV4dD1TdGFuIEJvd21hbiB3YXMgbmFtZWQgdGhlIG5hbWVkIHRoZSBuaW50aCBHZW5lcmFsIE1hbmFnZXI&ntb=1
The topic I responded to was about Stan not Scotty. Scotty is the greatest NHL coach of all time but he didn’t do so hot as a GM either. Iirc Scotty was fired as the GM of the Buffalo.
I agree. Some of the managers in the MLB HOF never played a single game of MLB. They did however play/managed in the minors prior to their HOF careers. For every Scotty Bowman their plenty of Stan Bowmans out there.
Can the Oilers afford at least 10 million a year for Bouchard next year? Most likely not. Let the Trade Rumors begin for one of the top 10 Defenseman in the league.
If you think Bouchard is a top 10 defenseman in the league I got some ocean front property in Minnesota to sell you.
Watch Bowman trade him for Seth Jones lmao
Bouchard is RFA for two years after this one. He is not making $10 million in either of them.
Why the disrespect for Bouchard? You don’t think he is up there with Makar and Hughes? What is the issue? He had 82 points this year and keeps getting better and better every year.
Maybe if Kyle Davidson withheld half of Seth’s salary…….the Oil won’t be able to move that albatross of a contract of Nurse’s.
(nods to rdiddy) I don’t think he’s up there with Makar, but Bouchard is *far* from a clown.
He is elite offensively and up there with the likes of Hughes, Makar, and Karlsson. Unfortunately his play in the d-zone is not good. He is a rich man’s Tyson Barrie. A little bigger and a little better than Barrie in his own zone and a little better than prime Barrie offensively. He will get paid, and paid very handsomely. But it will likely be a deal that the Oilers regret, much like the Nurse deal. He’s a good player to have, but not at 10+M as is being rumored cost to sign him long term.
He will not be the highest paid for long McDavid will be and should be .
wonder how much of the oilers future it would take to get out from under nurse’s cap hit ?
I’ll just say that in game 7 of the finals Draisaitl and McDavid were nowhere to be found against Florida. You want to be a superstar and be paid like a superstar then you put the team on your back and you do whatever it takes to win the Cup. Both of them didn’t even show up for that game. Congratulations on being the highest paid non Stanley Cup winner in the league.
Criticizing McDavid for one game after he carried the team on his back to one win away from the Stanley Cup AND won the Conn Smythe? Haters gonna hate I guess.
Someone is Salty their team doesn’t have a McDavid or Draisaitl.
Yes I am criticizing him and Draisaitl for one game. If you put the team on your back for games five and six, then you damn sure better do it for game seven as well. But they both didn’t show up for the most important game of a seven game Stanley Cup final. Isn’t that what they play the games for? And he didn’t deserve the Conn Sythe either. Bobrovski should have won it. I’m not a hater. But I guess money is better than winning.
Yes, the 2 guys put the team on their backs and were instrumental in the team not only getting to game 5, 6, or 7 of the final, but into the playoffs alone after the teams abysmal start to the season. Then to do what they did in the playoffs with injuries (Broken rib and hand/finger for Draisaitl, abdomen McDavid). I think it’s fair for them to not be able to finish the journey this one time. You gotta learn to crawl before you run, and the Oilers every year have advanced 1 more round and lost to the eventual winner in the past 3 years. Just because 1 team was actually better than, and able to beat you for the cup and rings doesn’t make them any less of players.
What will be his net take-home compared to someone playing for Nashville, Florida or Dallas?
Income tax is a hit playing in Canada yes. But property tax can make up for that in states like Texas as far as I know. I’m no accountant so don’t know for sure, but guys like John Tavares are fighting the CRA on the situations so it’s a little unknown at the time. That’s what their agents and accountants are there for.