‘Loyal to the Oil’: Edmonton signs Leon Draisaitl to 8-year extension
Posted September 3, 2024 8:45 am.
Last Updated September 3, 2024 7:39 pm.
Leon Draisaitl is staying in Edmonton.
The Edmonton Oilers and Draisaitl agreed to an eight-year, $112-million contract extension on Tuesday.
Draisaitl’s $14 million cap hit now passes Auston Matthews as the highest total in the NHL.
“I take great pride in being an Oiler, and always obviously wear my heart on my sleeve. I love nothing more than wearing that jersey and representing our city and our great fans,” Draisaitl told reporters.
“There’s not many people in the world that can play hockey like he does,” added Stan Bowman, Oilers GM and president of hockey operations. “There’s no way we could ever replace what Leon brings to the table.”
Draisaitl took to social media to share the extension announcement, with three photos and the caption: “Loyal to the OIL.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/C_dd5jlOJZo/?hl=en&img_index=1The deal keeps Draisaitl in Edmonton until the 2033-34 season. The centreman said Tuesday that he is now hopefully an Oiler for life. It’s a promising sign of times to come for Oilers fans.
“When a guy like Draisaitl says he wants to be an Oiler for life, it shows, hey, you can win in Edmonton, when it wasn’t the case a decade ago,” said sports writer Avry Lewis-McDougall. “It’s refreshing to see and it shows that the Edmonton locker room is in a great place right now.”
Draisaitl is coming off a 106-point regular season and a playoff run that ended in a heart-breaking Game 7 loss at the hands of the Florida Panthers.
He was entering the final year of his eight-year, $68-million dollar deal that he signed in the summer of 2017. The 10-year veteran was slated to be an unrestricted free agent in the 2025 off-season.
Draisaitl’s teammate and reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner Connor McDavid is heading into the penultimate season of his own eight-year deal and is set to be a free agent in the summer of 2026.
Draisaitl has notched at least 100 points in five of his last six seasons, winning both the Hart Trophy and the Art Ross Trophy in 2019-20.
The Oilers selected the six-foot-two, 208-pound forward with the third-overall pick in the 2014 NHL Draft.
‘The main priority is to win the Stanley Cup’
Inevitably now, the conversation for the Oilers will turn towards Connor McDavid, who is due for a new contract in two seasons.
For now, Draisaitl is happy to continue to call Edmonton his home – for both his personal and professional life.
“We’ve created friendships over the last couple years, our wives, fiancés, girlfriends have created friendships, forever-lasting friendships, over the last couple years, and that’s really, really special,” the forward said.
“Our main priority is to win, of course. You can ask Connor, Darnell, Nuge, Hyman, everyone, all the guys, we all want to win. But I think what we’ve created off the ice is almost just as important. People want to come here, and when they come, it’s hard for them to leave now. I think we’ve created that over the last couple years, and that’s something we’re really, really proud of. But the main priority is to win the Stanley Cup.”
