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Leon Draisaitl

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.

Boston Bruins Don’t Want Pastrnak’s Deal To Surpass Marchand

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At this point in the offseason, there are often teams that still have unsigned restricted free agents and there are quite a few names still remaining, including Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl, Columbus’ Alexander Wennberg, Vancouver’s Bo Horvat and Boston’s David Pastrnak. However, Joe Haggerty of CSNNE suggests one hold up to a deal is the team doesn’t want to give Pastrnak a deal that is bigger than their star veteran, Brad Marchand.

The 29-year-old wing, who signed an eight-year, $49MM ($6.125MM AAV) extension less than a year ago, is coming off a 40-goal season (if you include the playoffs) and his extension suddenly looks like a bargain. However, the team would like Marchand, who is the team’s leader and core franchise player, to be the top-paid player and not be overshadowed by a younger player. According to Haggerty, the team was working with Pastrnak to come in at a deal that was slighty below that of Marchand, but those talks have been put on hold.

While Marchand put up 39 goals and 46 assists for 85 points, Pastrnak had a breakout season himself. After putting up 25 goals in his first two seasons in Boston, the scored 34 goals and added 36 assists for 70 points. He is one of just 26 players to have reached the 30-goal plateau last year.

What is likely to work in Pastrnak’s favor is that Connor McDavid’s extension may have changed the landscape for top, young forwards and suddenly Pastrnak may wait until McDavid’s teammate, Draisaitl signs an extension. Many believe that contract will be significant and Pastrnak will want the same deal. Of course, Draisaitl may also be waiting for Pastrnak to sign as well, so it might take a while. Many believe, however, that Draisaitl may agree to a contract in the $7-8MM range, therefore altering Pastrnak’s demands as well.

Pastrnak, meanwhile, states that he is practicing hard and is not worried about signing an extension, according to Tim Campbell of NHL.com.

“I’m just waiting, leaving it all to my agent [J.P. Barry] to communicate with them,” Pastrnak said during the European Player Media Tour on Thursday. “I’m just focusing on getting ready for next season. I’m focusing on getting better and I’m trying not to think about that stuff. I just let it go and something will happen.”

Oilers Sign Kailer Yamamoto To Entry-Level Deal

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It’s already been a big month for 2017 first-round draft pick Kailer Yamamoto just ten days in. After putting on clinic at the World Junior Summer Showcase last week, it seems like his efforts did not go unnoticed by his new team, the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers this evening announced that the 22nd-overall pick has signed his entry-level contract with the team. As per usual, the deal is for three years and, although not yet official, expected to be for the ELC maximum of $925K per season.

Of course, Yamamoto’s work with Team USA last week was not the first good look that GM Peter Chiarelli and company got of the 18-year-old. Yamamoto also attended the team’s Player Development Camp earlier this summer and drew rave reviews. Prior to that, Yamamoto put his skill on display last season for the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs. The swift right winger is a gifted play-maker, scoring 42 goals and adding 57 assists for Spokane last season in the rugged WHL. Add in seven-point performance in four games at the 2016 U-18 World Juniors, and there is little doubt that Yamamoto can put up points.

Where there is doubt, and where there will continue to be until he proves otherwise at the NHL level, is with his size. At just 5’8′, 153 lbs., Yamamoto would be the smallest player in the league should he actually suit up for the Oilers this season. Due to his lack of stature, Yamamoto’s offensive instincts and impeccable skating ability were overlooked by many teams in the NHL Draft until Edmonton jumped on him at #22. There have been plenty of smaller players to make it in the NHL, especially in recent years with the likes of Johnny Gaudreau and Tyler Johnson, but that won’t stop critics from waiting to see if Yamamoto can actually produce in a much bigger and tougher pro game.

While Yamamoto will surely be featured prominently in the Oilers’ training camp and preseason this year, don’t be surprised if he is sent back to junior for the 2017-18 campaign. Not only would another year of physical growth and bulking up help the undersized scorer, but continued development of a more sound two-way game would also go a long way to making his NHL transition much smoother. With that said, the Boston Bruins, who ironically were expected to have interest in Yamamoto this year, watched 2014 #25 overall pick David Pastrnak make the roster right away in 2014-15 after questions over pro readiness caused him to fall in that draft year. The same situation could certainly occur with Yamamoto this season and with talents like Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins making up the Oilers’ forward corps, Yamamoto could find a good fit and plenty of points right away if he makes the team.

Snapshots: Draisaitl, Polak, Blackhawks

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Oilers center Leon Draisaitl is the most prominent of the 19 remaining restricted free agents.  While some have suggested that he and Bruins RFA winger David Pastrnak could be looking for similar contracts (and could be waiting for the other to sign before finalizing their agreements), David Staples of the Edmonton Journal suggests that Buffalo’s pursuit of an eight-year extension for center Jack Eichel is worth keeping an eye on, especially if he signs his deal before Draisaitl puts pen to paper on his.

Eichel hasn’t had as productive of a year like Draisaitl did in 2016-17 (77 points in 82 games) but he is younger and has the higher draft pedigree which will be factors in negotiations with Buffalo.  Staples asserts that it will be hard for Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli to argue that Draisaitl should be paid less than Eichel and given what the 2015 second overall pick has done in his two years with Buffalo plus his draft status, he should be heading for a second contract north of $7MM, if not more.

Staples projects that Draisaitl should be in line for a contract between $7.2MM and $8MM but that the young German’s agent, Mike Liut, may want to wait to see if Eichel signs first in the hopes of strengthening Draisaitl’s bargaining leverage.  While anything in or around that range is certainly a big ticket contract, the Oilers have more than enough cap space to fit him in this year as they currently have just shy of $17MM in cap space per CapFriendly.

More from around the hockey world:

  • Although he has yet to land a new contract this summer, unrestricted free agent defenseman Roman Polak isn’t dealing with any setbacks in his injury rehab, TSN’s Kristen Shilton reports (Twitter link). The 31-year-old underwent surgery on his leg in mid-April after being injured in the second game of Toronto’s first round series against Washington.  Polak is coming off a $2.25MM contract and between the injury and his status as a third pairing player, he will likely be taking a sizable pay cut on his next contract.  He is not eligible to sign a contract with performance bonuses as he’s under 35 and didn’t spend more than 100 days on injured reserve in 2016-17.
  • While Chicago is capable of placing winger Marian Hossa on summer long-term injury reserve now to free up cap space to make another offseason addition (like Toronto has already done), NHL.com’s Dan Rosen suspects that the Blackhawks will wait until the regular season to do so. While that will stop them from adding anyone else of note for a couple of months, waiting until the puck drops on 2017-18 will give them the most amount of in-season flexibility.  It was announced back in June that Hossa will miss all of 2017-18 at the very least due to a progressive skin disorder.

Cost Per Point: The Best Value Deals In The NHL

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When working with a salary cap, especially one that has not been increasing as expected in recent year, it is vital for general managers to get the most production out of their players. Teams with players who meet the expected level of production implied by their contracts and teams that lack wasted dollars in bad, expensive deals are often the same teams that thrive in today’s NHL. Forget market size or free agent appeal, the key to a winning franchise nowadays is getting the best bang for your buck on every player on the roster. While no player can be fully quantified by their scoring, cost per point is an easy way to look at which players are producing at the most team-friendly rate and which have been more of a cap space killer than a positive member of the team. Thanks to CapFriendly, that information is readily available to fans and NHL executives alike.

The benchmark for this metric is about $100K/point, as GM’s expect those big-time forwards and offensive defenseman who they award with $6MM, $7MM, and $8MM per year contracts to be putting up 60, 70, or 80 points respectively. For the second year in a row, St. Louis Blues superstar Vladimir Tarasenko was the poster boy for this standard, coming in at exactly $100K/point with 75 points on a $7.5MM deal. Winnipeg’s Bryan Little and New Jersey’s Adam Henrique are two other notable names that hit the mark exactly, while phenoms like Sidney Crosby and Duncan Keith landing close to the $100K/point mark show that it is an accurate expectation.

However, the exception to the rule is obviously entry-level contracts. It is no secret that drafting and developing well is the best way to improve you team, beginning with affordable scoring from players on their rookie deals. Nowhere is that more apparent than in cost per point, where nine of the top ten and 17 of the top 20 best contracts were rookie deals. To no one surprise, 20-year-old MVP Connor McDavid and his 100 points on a $925K entry-level contract was far and away the best bargain in hockey. McDavid cost the Oilers only $9,250 per point in 2016-17. That will all change soon, as McDavid is set to begin an eight-year, $100MM contract in 2018-19, after which a 100-point campaign will cost Edmonton $125,000/point, closer to the expectations of a standard contract. For now, the Oilers can enjoy one more year of McDavid likely being the best deal in the NHL, as well as the best player. Entry-level deals joining McDavid in the top ten last year (in order) were Viktor Arvidsson, Artemi Panarin, teammate Leon Draisaitl, Conor Sheary, David Pastrnak, Auston Matthews, Nikolaj Ehlers, and Patrik Laine. Not all entry-level deals are created equal, so while Draisaitl and Pastrnak were second and fourth respectively in entry-level scoring, they were also on the ELC maximum deal of $925K and of slightly lesser value to their teams than the likes of Arvidsson ($632K) and Sheary ($667.5K). Panarin had the best contract in the league in 2015-16 and fell only to third with $10,980/point for the Chicago Blackhawks. Now in Columbus and on a two-year, $12MM deal, the Blue Jackets have to hope that they can continue to get 70+ point seasons out of him to maximize the value of that deal.

So, entry-level contracts aside, who was the best contract in hockey last season? Another easy answer, former Blue Jacket gamble Sam Gagner. After a horrendous 2015-16 campaign with the Philadelphia Flyers, Gagner struggled to find a new team last summer, eventually settling on a $650K “show me” deal with Columbus. Right away people tagged that contract, for a six-time 40+ point scorer, as an absolute bargain, even if Gagner simply bounced back to normal production. He did one better, posting a career-high 50 points for the Jackets and coming in at $13K/point, good enough for sixth in the NHL. Gagner has since moved on to the Vancouver Canucks, signing a three-year, $9.45MM contract on July 1st. However, if he is able to continue to produce at 40-50 point levels over that deal, his $3.15MM cap hit will remain a great bargain deal. Behind Gagner, another player on the move this summer, former Florida Panther and current Vegas Golden Knight Jonathan Marchessault had the 13th-ranked cost per point last year at $14,706/point. Marchessault had a breakout year, netting 51 points in the first season of a two-year, $1.5MM deal. Rather than take advantage of one more $750K season for a 30-goal scorer, the Panthers allowed Marchessault to be selected in the Expansion Draft and Vegas surely hopes he continues to be one of the best values in hockey in 2017-18. The final contract in the top 20 not belonging to an entry-level player, and the only 35+ veteran contract in the top 50, belongs to Marchessault’s replacement in Florida, Radim Vrbata. Vrbata returned home to Arizona last season after a down year in Vancouver the season prior, and the swift 36-year old proceeded to score 55 points, more than double his previous year’s total. On a one-year deal with a $1MM base salary, that only cost the Coyotes $18,182/point last season. Now at a base salary of $2.5MM in Florida, the Panthers hope that Vrbata isn’t starting to slow down just yet. Other impressive value contracts included Patrick Eaves, whose breakout season in Dallas led to a trade and subsequent extension with the Anaheim Ducks, Derek Ryan, who shocked the hockey world with 29 points for the Carolina Hurricanes in his first full NHL season at age 30, and a quartet of recently re-signed RFAs in Richard Panik, Ryan Dzingel, Ryan Spooner, and Jordan Martinook.

With the good comes the bad, and there were certainly some poor value contracts in the NHL last year. Many of the worst belong to players who were injured or AHL depth players that saw only limited time. With zero points in 13 games with a $1.25MM cap hit, Tampa Bay Lightning winger Erik Condra’s value was not even quantifiable it was so bad, and at the highest salary of any player who went pointless last season. Limited to just 18 games with only four points, another Bolts forward, Ryan Callahan, was one of the worst values due to injury with $1.45MM per point on his $5.8MM cap hit. However, the truly worst contract in the NHL has to belong to a player that player a majority of the season. Sadly for a Detroit fan base that is already feeling pretty down-and-out, that designation belongs to Red Wings defenseman Danny DeKeyser, who began a six-year, $30MM extension by scoring about a third less points for the third season in a row. With 12 points in 82 games at $5MM, DeKeyser’s $416.7K/point is pretty ugly. The Buffalo Sabres struck out twice on the blue line, with both Dmitry Kulikov (five points in 47 games at $4.33MM) and Josh Gorges (six points in 66 games at $3.9MM) coming in at $866.7K/point and $650K/point respectively, though neither is known as a major point producer. The worst forward contract? Andrew Desjardins may not have been relied upon as a full-time player with much ice time last season with the Chicago Blackhawks, but with only one point in 46 games, $800K/point, it’s not difficult to see why he remains an unsigned free agent.

While statistics and analytics in hockey are normally geared toward displaying on-ice production, it is always interesting to look at the game from a business perspective. It is important for teams and fans alike to understand not just the absolute of how a player is producing, but the relative value of that production based on how much money that player is being paid. In a salary cap league, there is nothing more important that production value, and as the game grows the focus will only further tighten on scoring as a function of dollars and the cost per point metric.

Pressure On The Strome Brothers In 2017-18

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If Philadelphia Flyers prospect Matthew Strome somehow makes the roster out of camp this fall, it will come as a pleasant surprise to the team and the fans. Strome fell to the fourth round, 106th overall, in the NHL Draft this past June after many believed he would be a first or second-round prospect. Yet, Strome does possess great size and compete level for his age and has the vision and finishing ability to have an outside shot at a bottom-six winger slot for Philly. However, if Strome is simply returned to the OHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs for another year, maybe two, no one will be upset. There are no expectations for the youngest Strome at this point in time.

The same cannot be said for his older brothers. New Edmonton Oiler Ryan Strome and Arizona Coyotes prospect Dylan Strome face some serious stakes in 2017-18. Both are still young at 24 and 20 respectively, but neither has lived up to expectations thus far. With each facing the daunting task of playing a key offensive role for their teams this season, the time is now to show that they have what it takes.

In many ways, the Oilers’ recent trade of Jordan Eberle to the New York Islanders for Ryan Strome was a salary cap dump. Eberle was set to make $6MM this year and next, while Strome will be paid just $2.5MM this season. Eberle is also twice the player that Strome is, both subjectively in the minds of most hockey pundits and objectively given the pairs scoring stats in each of the past two seasons. The fact of the matter is that the Oilers were facing a cap crunch with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in need of super-expensive long-term extensions and with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Milan Lucic, and their top-four defenseman all already signed to big-money deals. Someone had to go and the choice was Eberle. However, Edmonton has now lost the only player that has been a consistent scorer for them through many dark years and a crucial member of the top six. Strome may not hold up in comparison, but it is no secret that he is expected to contribute this season and vastly improve from his numbers with the Islanders. After a 50-point campaign and +23 rating in his first full pro season in 2014-15, many thought Strome was on his way to stardom. Two years later, he’s scored just 58 points over two seasons and is a -17 in that span. Strome hit a wall in New York and looked lost in the Isles’ lineup. Edmonton presents a brand new opportunity for him to show that his 5th overall pick status in 2011 and early NHL returns were no fluke. While Strome is a natural center, the Oilers are sorely lacking a right-shot offensive threat in the top six with Eberle gone. Rather than bury Strome on the third line, it seems very likely that he could instead move from center to right wing, where he spent some time in New York, and skate alongside the likes of McDavid, Draisaitl, or Nugent-Hopkins next season. With that role will come the pressure to produce alongside such high-quality players. Strome must improve on his 30 points from 2016-17 and has to become a better even strength player. If he doesn’t, the Oilers may regret this deal as they struggle to find secondary scoring and Strome’s future may be in doubt this time next year as he faces restricted free agency.

Dylan Strome has always been property of the Arizona Coyotes, but playing with the team this season may feel like new scenario. The former Erie Otters superstar has played in just seven NHL games since being drafted third overall in 2015 and has just one assist to show for it. Once considered the Coyotes #1 center of the future, Strome will enter the mix this year as somewhat of an afterthought. The team went out and acquired Derek Stepan from the New York Rangers, who should be the team’s top center and offensive leader for the time being. There is also Calder speculation surrounding young center Clayton Keller who, despite being drafted a year after and four spots later than Strome, has seemingly passed him up on the organizational depth chart. With promising young players like Max Domi, Anthony Duclair Brendan Perlini, Christian Fischer, Christian Dvorak, Lawson Crouse, and Nick Merkley also in the mix, not to mention solid veterans like Jordan Martinook, Tobias Rieder, and Jamie McGinn,  it may be hard for Strome to find a top-nine role, nevertheless be a featured forward. Yet, the rebuild in Arizona cannot last forever and “promise” will only hold up for so long on a Coyotes team that should be taking the next step soon. If the ’Yotes don’t improve in 2017-18 and Strome’s rookie season is underwhelming, many may point to his lack of development as the reason why the rebuild has shown few results. While it is asking a lot to compare Strome to the two picks ahead of him in 2015 – Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel – the early success of those after him, like Mitch Marner, Mikko Rantanen, Pavel Zacha, Travis Konecny, Anthony Beauvillier, Sebastian Aho, and more, is likely already frustrating both Arizona fans and executives. Another season without results could be disastrous for his tenure in the desert. The pressure is officially on.

If Ryan and Dylan Strome live up to their draft hype and ample ability this year, the Strome family could be the talk of the hockey town in 2017-18. However, if neither can take advantage of their opportunities this year, there could be some serious doubt cast upon the career prospects of both. Then again, at least there’s always Matthew to watch for.

Oilers Re-Sign Dillon Simpson

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Defenseman Dillon Simpson and the Edmonton Oilers agreed to a one-year, two-way deal today per a tweet from TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie. CapFriendly has the deal at $675K.

Last season, Simpson skated for the Oilers in three games. He spent the majority of the season with the Bakersfield Condors, playing 53 games and registering 11 points (3-8). Simpson is a native of Edmonton and surely hopes to see more time with the Oilers in 2017-18.

With the signing, the Oilers only have one  free agent signing left: Leon Draisaitl

Free Agent Focus: Edmonton Oilers

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The free agent period is now less than one week away from opening up and there are several prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign.  Here is a breakdown of the Edmonton Oilers’ free agent situation.

Key Restricted Free Agents: F Leon Draisaitl. At 21 years old and coming off a 29-goal season (along with 77 total points), Draisaitl would likely be the most important restricted free agent in the entire NHL. The Oilers have already come out and stated they will match any offer, no matter how high to retain one of the franchise’s cornerstone pieces on their team and it will prove costly. The third overall pick in the 2014 draft has been unstoppable in just three short years and he’s nowhere close to his prime. Extending the young German forward is critical for the team and a big reason the team just traded Jordan Eberle to the Islanders to free as much cap space as it can to lock up Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, who they hope to extend this year as well.

Other RFA’s: F Zack Kassian, D Joey Laleggia, D David Musil, F Zachary Pochiro, F Henrik Samuelsson, D Dillon Simpson.

Key Unrestricted Free Agents: F Tyler Pitlick. A few days ago, veteran defender Kris Russell would have been in this spot, but the defender signed a four-year, $4MM per year deal to stay with the Oilers. That leaves very little to worry about on the unrestricted free agent front. However, if you really look, Pitlick still has a lot of potential. The only problem is the 25-year-old center is quite injury prone. In the last three years, he has not played in more than 37 games a season due to various injuries with the most recent being a torn ACL back in December. Although, he was having a strong season before that, scoring eight goals in those first 31 games. However, considering the Oilers may be looking for cheap players with potential, they might consider giving Pitlick one more chance.

Other UFA’s: F David Desharnais, F Justin Fontaine, D Mark Fraser, F Matt Hendricks, D Eric Gryba, D Jordan Oesterle.

Projected Cap Space: With the Eberle contract now off the books and Russell signed long-term, that allows Edmonton almost $20MM in cap space to work with and they will likely need a lot of that to give extensions to Draisaitl and McDavid. While McDavid is not a restricted free agent until next year, the team can lock him up starting this summer and would be smart to do so. With what’s left, the team may look to add a few veterans to fill out the lineup and help guide this young team even further next year.

 

 

Offseason Keys: Edmonton Oilers

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While expansion was the early headline in what will be a busy NHL offseason, there are still several other storylines for each team in the months to come. Here is a closer look at what lies ahead for the Edmonton Oilers.

After years of continued struggles, everything came together rather nicely for the Oilers in 2016-17.  Connor McDavid built on a strong rookie season with a Hart Trophy campaign while Cam Talbot provided the strong goaltending they had been seeking for a while.  As a result, they made it to the second round, providing plenty of reason for optimism in Edmonton.

GM Peter Chiarelli has been busy already this offseason with the recent trade of winger Jordan Eberle to the Islanders for center Ryan Strome plus the re-signing of Kris Russell.  Even with those off the board, there is still work to be done.  Here are three remaining offseason keys for the Oilers.

McDavid Extension

There has been talk of McDavid’s second contract since the time he signed his first one.  He has more than delivered in his first two seasons with Edmonton and Chiarelli has already indicated that this will be his top priority this summer.

Mar 12, 2017; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid (97) skates against the Montreal Canadiens at Rogers Place. Mandatory Credit: Perry Nelson-USA TODAY SportsThere are two questions in play here – how much will it cost and how long will the contract be?  Regardless of the term, it’s going to be among the highest cap hits in the league and I don’t think anyone on either side would expect otherwise.

The term presents the more intriguing question.  He’s eligible to sign for as many as eight years and he sits four years away from unrestricted free agency eligibility.  While many have expected he’ll take the eight years, it was suggested last month that a five year term would be more preferable to McDavid.  While that would result in a lower pay day now, it would allow him to sign his next contract with all years being UFA ones and likely a higher salary cap at that time.  Whichever way they go, there’s little reason to think this won’t get done around July 1st, the first day he’s eligible to sign.

New Deal For Draisaitl

Edmonton has the highest scoring restricted free agent this summer in center Leon Draisaitl.  The German forward is coming off a breakout season where he tallied 29 goals and 48 assists and has shown himself to be a number one center.

Offer sheets are extremely rare now but given the massive contract McDavid will get on his next deal, some have wondered if Draisaitl could be targeted.  Chiarelli has already stated he’ll match any offer but that might not stop a team from trying.  If an opposing squad wanted to make life difficult for Edmonton cap-wise, they could offer as much $9.8MM for five years with the offer sheet compensation being two first rounders, a second, and a third.

The expectation is that the two sides should be able to work out a deal shortly after the McDavid one is finalized (and it’s that contract that will likely lay the foundation for this one) but if that isn’t the case, there may be a team that decides to try to roll the dice on an offer sheet (assuming Draisaitl is willing to sign it, of course).  Assuming there is no offer sheet, a new deal for the 21 year old should come in around the $7MM per season range.

Add Defensive Depth

The Oilers will be without blueliner Andrej Sekera for a notable period to start next season.  He suffered a torn ACL against the Ducks in the second round and will be out anywhere from six to nine months.  On the shorter end, he’d miss roughly the first six weeks of the season but at the longer end of the scale, that could be half the season.

The team is in much better shape defensively than they were a couple of years ago with both Darnell Nurse and Matt Benning faring well as youngsters but behind them, there isn’t much that’s ready right away.  Griffin Reinhart would have helped in that regard but he was picked by the Golden Knights in expansion.

Veteran Eric Gryba is set to become an unrestricted free agent and while bringing him back would help in terms of depth, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them set their heights a little higher in free agency.  It’s not likely that they will go after the big names – especially with their big two forwards set to receive huge raises – but finding someone capable of playing a fourth or fifth defender role would help ease the pain of missing Sekera early on while giving them strong third pairing options when everyone is healthy.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Edmonton Oilers Will Match Any Offer Sheet For Leon Draisaitl

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Though it may not have needed to be said, Edmonton Oilers GM today clarified his position in regards to a potential offer sheet targeting Leon Draisaitl. As Chris Johnston of Sportsnet reports, Chiarelli and the Oilers will match “any offer.” Whether it is a bluff or not, it’s hard to see anyone actually signing Draisaitl to an offer sheet. They are so rare these days that they almost never happen, and Chiarelli can honestly say he’ll match after moving out salary in today’s earlier Jordan Eberle deal.

If anyone were to try it, the penalties were outlined by Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet some time ago. They’re as follows:

$1,295,571 or less No compensation
$1,295,571 to $1,962,968 Third-round pick
$1,962,968 to $3,925,975 Second-round pick
$3,925,975 to $5,888,960 First and third-round picks
$5,888,960 to $7,851,948 First, second and third-round picks
$7,851,948 to $9,814,935 Two firsts, a second and third-round picks
Over $9,814,935 Four first-round picks

You can see why Chiarelli would be comfortable saying it. Unless a team is willing to sign Draisaitl for almost $10MM a year—which is still unlikely regardless of his unbelievable potential and performance this season—the compensation would be nowhere near the value he’ll bring to the franchise for the next several years. There’s no guarantee that Draisaitl stays with the Oilers long term (or even to his 26th birthday given how young he broke into the league) but two firsts a second and third pale in comparison to what he’s worth.

Interestingly, Oilers fans will remember the time they signed Thomas Vanek, then a young sniper for the Buffalo Sabres to an offer sheet, only to have it matched. Had the Sabres let Vanek go, they would have been owed four first-round picks, which ended up as the 12th, 10th, 1st and 1st overall selections in their respective drafts. Vanek was coming off a better season (albeit in a higher scoring environment) than Draisaitl’s 2016-17, giving just a tiny bit of pause to the idea that the Oilers should actually match any offer.

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