On the Edmonton Oilers and Leon Draisaitl …
Jonathan Willis of Sportsnet: The Oilers will likely be wanting to sign Leon Draisaitl to a long-term contract as opposed to a bridge deal.
When looking at comparables coming out of their entry-level deals, Draisaitl’s 0.94 points-per-game would put him in the cap hit range of $6 to $6.5 million per season on a long-term deal. Some of the comparables used doesn’t take the rise in salary cap into consideration.
Recent deals – Aleksander Barkov on a six-year deal at $5.9 million a season could be the low point for Draisaitl, with Johnny Gaudreau‘s six-year, $6.75 million being the high point.
Luke Fox of SportsNet: Draisaitl finished the season with 77 points, eighth most in the league, and led the Oilers in playoff goals and assists. Term will be interesting.
The Blackhawks extended Artemi Panarin to a two-year, bonus-laden bridge deal for $12 million.
The Flames extended Sean Monahan last offseason for seven years at $6.375 million per.
Thinking it will cost the Oilers closer to $7 million per season, especially when Milan Lucic is making $6 million a year.
Chris Nichols of FanRag Sports: Elliotte Friedman on 630 CHED talking about the Edmonton Oilers and what it might cost them to sign Leon Draisaitl. It’s going to take a big dollars amount to sign him, but the bigger question may be what will the term be.
“You look at all of the contracts that got signed last year, okay. Scheifele got ($6.125 million), MacKinnon got ($6.3 million), Monahan got ($6.375 million), Gaudreau got ($6.75 million). And you know what? Draisaitl, you might make the argument, he’s worth more than all of those guys.
“So if you’re going term, you’re looking high 6s, maybe 7.
“I look at Draisaitl, the way he’s going – he’s a hell of a player. It’s never going to get cheaper. If I’m the Oilers, I’m locking him in as long as I can.
“If you sign him up – and let’s say for argument’s sake it’s $7 million a year – if he plays the way that he played in the playoffs, and at the end of the season when he was the third-highest scorer, I think, from Feb. 1 on? That deal is going to be a bargain.”