TSN: Nobody should be nervous yet that Leon Draisaitl doesn’t have an extension done as Oilers offseason isn’t that old and there’s plenty of time left this summer according to Bryan Hayes. There’s also Connor McDavid’s wedding that could play into it.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Onrait: “Over the weekend Bryan, we heard from Leon Draisaitl’s agent. He said Leon wants a deal done by the end of August.
So it seems like the green light has been given for Edmonton to sign this guy. But if you’re an Oilers fan, at what point do you become nervous if an extension hasn’t been agreed to?
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Hayes: “I think it’s still until you get to camp, right? Like you’ve got all summer. Let’s not forget they went to game seven of a Cup Final. Like, Leon Draisaitl, the Oilers front office, they were preoccupied.
The Oilers front office was immediately preoccupied with the draft, with free agency, Jeff Jackson seeking out a new GM with Ken Holland leaving. So there was a lot on their plate.
Draisaitl has another year left. He will be there for camp. He will play out the season, hat is my belief. I think that’s the belief of most people in Edmonton. And like you referenced, Draisaitl’s agent’s open to the idea of talking about extension. I don’t think it’s as much about when the extension happens, it’s what that extension looks like.
And I’m gonna go TMZ a little bit on you here, Jay. Connor McDavid is getting married later in the month. You know big story here in Southern Ontario, in Toronto, up in Muskoka. I’m sure it’s the same thing out in Edmonton. People are aware McDavid’s getting married.
And this is all going to be linked, I think Draisaitl’s future to Connor McDavid. And why I bring McDavid’s marriage up is because obviously he’s preoccupied, but at some point, I’m sure Draisaitl and McDavid are going to have a chat and try to work this out.
What does the future look like, right? Because I think they’re mostly tied at the hip. It feels like Draisaitl’s gonna be there long-term. McDavid’s gonna be there long term and vice versa. And I know people are really anxious about that in Edmonton but it does feel like that could be the case here.
So Draisaitl has a year left, David’s got two years left. I’m not as worried about when this gets done if I’m an Oilers fan, I’m more worried about what it looks like. If you’re the Oilers and if you’re fan Oilers fan, you want Draisaitl to sign for eight years. Give him $14 (million) a year, $14.5 (million), whatever. He’s, he’s gonna push the envelope. He’s gonna get paid more than Auston Matthews, the highest-paid player in the game. He deserves that and then McDavid will go above him.
He signs for eight year, that’s incredible. But if he signs for one, what he does is he matches up with McDavid. You guarantee Draisaitl, McDavid for two years. Two more years. That’s an incredible get. There’s 31 other fan bases in the league that would do anything for that.
But it might open the door to one of them leaving, both of them leaving. So I don’t think it’s as much about when this happens. I think other fans are comfortable that Draisaitl will be back next year. They’ll go for it again. Maybe it’s a last dance situation. Maybe it’s a Kawhi Leonard in ’19 situation with the Raptors and the chase the Stanley Cup.
But if McDavid is linked and Draisaitl doesn’t sign long term and it comes out that maybe McDavid is indicated he’s not going to sign long term, that’s when really the anxiety starts to get crazy and the panic might set in.
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I don’t think it’s about timing. I don’t think it’s about this upcoming season. I think it’s about Draisaitl, McDavid and their overall future in Edmonton. And I think we’ll find that out more than likely post-McDavid nuptials and certainly by day one of camp. That’s when the heats really going to start to pick up and I think people in Edmonton, understandably, will want some sort of clarity on what’s going to happen with the future of Draisaitl and again, by extension Connor McDavid.
