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Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports
The NHL season is quickly approaching, with less than 40 days away. Despite it still being the offseason of last year's Stanley Cup runner-up, the Edmonton Oilers made headlines today with a significant move. They signed their star center Leon Drasaitl to the largest per-average contract in NHL history: an eight-year, $112 million deal extension, a move that will undoubtedly shape the upcoming season.
Drasaitl's one year left before the extension kicks in will have an $8.5 million cap hit per Spotrac. This new deal, which will pay the Oilers' superstar center an annual average of $14 million, brings a significant sense of stability to the team. It ends rumors of him leaving the Oilers, where he is a dynamic duo force alongside the NHL’s best player, Connor McDavid. This stability ensures the team's future, keeping the Oilers star center with the team until the end of the 2032-2033 season and at least another two years alongside McDavid, who will be a free agent at the end of the 2025-26 season.
"I take great pride in being an Oiler and always obviously wear my heart on my sleeve, but I love nothing more than wearing that jersey and representing our city and our great fans," Draisaitl said. "I'm really, really excited and happy to hopefully be an Oiler for life.
Since entering the NHL as the No.3 overall pick in the 2014 Draft, Drasaitl has been a force to be reckoned with on the ice rink. The German native has been an All-Star five times and was the Art Ross Trophy recipient in 2020 with a league-leading 110 points. He also clinched the Hart Trophy (most valuable player) and the Ted Lindsay Award (most outstanding player as voted by the NHLPA) in the same season. His career stats speak for themselves: 850 points (347 goals, 503 assists) in 719 regular-season games and 108 points (41 goals, 67 assists) in 74 playoff games over the first decade of his illustrious career.
In addition to those remarkable achievements, Drasaitl has been selected to the NHL first and second all-star teams twice and has the most power-play goals in franchise history (146). That’s more than hockey legends such as the GOAT Wayne Gretzky, his teammate McDavid, and Mark Messier, to name a few who have put on the Oiler uniform in the franchise’s memorable history.
Since the 2018-19 season, Drasaitl has been second in the NHL in points scored (643), only behind his teammate Connor McDavid’s ridiculous 726. The Oilers are 220-121-32 in the last five regular seasons. In the postseason since 2019, they missed the playoffs, lost in the first round twice (2020, 2021), lost in the semifinals (2023), Conference Finals (2022), and Stanley Cup this past season to the Florida Panthers in seven games.
The Oilers overcame a 0-3 deficit to the Panthers by winning three consecutive games to force a Game 7 before ultimately falling short 2-1. McDavid still won the Stanley Cup MVP, becoming the sixth player in league history to do so, joining Roger Crozier (1966), Glenn Hall (1968), Reggie Leach (1976), Ron Hextall (1987), and Jean Sebastian-Giguere (2003).
"I have a hard time picturing myself in a different jersey, and I know things change," Drasaitl said. "I'm aware of that and I understand the business side very well. But for me, I wanted to be an Oiler for life, hopefully. And for as long as I can."
Drasaitl has helped the Oilers qualify for the playoffs in five straight seasons and six of his 10 with the team. Before his first season in 2014-15, Edmonton failed to make the playoffs for eight consecutive seasons. The Oilers will look to capture their first Stanley Cup title since 1990 when they defeated the Boston Bruins in five games.
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