One down, one to go: How Leon Draisaitl’s contract affects Connor McDavid’s future in Edmonton

Sep 11, 2024

Credit: May 16, 2024; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid (97) and forward Leon Draisaitl (29) and defenseman Evan Bouchard (2) during a stop in play against the Vancouver Canucks during the first period in game five of the second round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports

LAS VEGAS – Reinvigorated would be the word. When Leon Draisaitl entered a conference room to meet with reporters Wednesday, wrapping up the NHL Player Media Tour, he carried with him a palpable energy. There was no dead-eyed stare, no wearing the pain of June’s Game 7 loss in the Stanley Cup Final. He regrets the fact he had to play through injury in his Edmonton Oilers’ series against the Florida Panthers and wasn’t able to dominate games like he normally could, and he wonders what could’ve happened if he had been healthy, but he also acknowledges many other players were fighting through ailments.

On the emotional side, there will never be 100 percent healing from a Game 7 loss in the Final, but Draisaitl seems as close to “over it” as one can be. The new contract probably helps with that. Last week, the Oilers made Draisaitl, 28, the NHL’s highest-paid player, signing him to an eight-year contract at a $14 million AAV and lifting a weight off his shoulders.

“Yeah, it’s a nice feeling to just know where I’m going to be at least for the next couple of years and be able to continue to chip away at what we’ve been creating and building over the last couple of years,” Draisaitl said, “and focus on really truly just the hockey side over contracts and talking to my agents every other day.”

When asked whether he felt a responsibility to raise the bar for other players by securing a record-setting salary, Draisaitl clarified that, “I don’t think I necessarily pushed my contract all the way to the limit. I’d like to state that. But I am very happy with it.” He’s at peace with his deal and ready to focus on hockey itself. He said Wednesday he has already begun skating with his probable new linemates Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson the past couple weeks.

So breathe easy, Oilers fans. You have one happy superstar. Of course, that’s just half the equation. The biggest superstar of them all, Connor McDavid, will soon step into the on-deck circle. Currently on the penultimate season of a contract playing him $12.5 million annually, McDavid, 27, is eligible to sign an extension beginning July 1, 2025. The speculation will ramp up just as it did for Draisaitl.

But McDavid, agent Judd Moldaver and the Oilers brass won’t be starting from scratch. The Draisaitl deal was a crucial first step toward figuring out McDavid’s future. Draisaitl recently bought a home next to McDavid’s offseason residence so the duo could train together easier. You probably aren’t doing that if you’re only expecting to spend another year or two as teammates. And McDavid, speaking to reporters Wednesday directly after Draisaitl, didn’t shy away from the fact Draisaitl’s contract directly affects his own odds of re-upping.

“A lot of things go into deciding where you’re going to play and how long you’re going play there for,” McDavid said. “But Leon signing his big deal, knowing he’ll be there, certainly would go into that decision amongst many other things.”

The NHL’s salary cap has risen $88 million for this season and is expected to increase to approximately $92.4 million for 2025-26, during which Draisaitl’s $14 million will account for just more than 15 percent of Edmonton’s cap number. McDavid’s current AAV put him at 14.2 percent at the time he signed. By 2025-26, his and Draisaitl’s combined $26.5 million would account for just below 29 percent of a projected $92.4 million. No player can make more than 20 percent of a team’s cap number; we don’t yet know what the projected cap will be for 2026-27 given the NHL’s collective bargaining agreement expires after 2025-26. But $16 million might be a fair ballpark for McDavid given he is the only player aside from Wayne Gretzky to win five scoring titles in his first eight seasons. That would constitute 17.3 percent of a $92.4 million cap number and a smaller chunk of whatever the 2026-27 cap will be. But McDavid doesn’t necessarily feel like his deal has to be a precedent-setter. He took less than his market value on his previous contract in hopes of allowing Edmonton to build a winning team, after all.

He joked Wednesday that his agent Moldaver, who was in the room, “would like me to say yes” about raising the NHL’s salary bar, “but at the end of the day, I’m going to do what’s best for my family, right? I’m going to do what’s best for my chance to win and win many times over again.”

McDavid pointed out that the dressing room is full of “fathers and husbands” now and acknowledged that the Oilers “are an older team now.” He’s right; they’re the oldest team in the NHL, actually, with an average age of 30.4. It’s thus possible McDavid once again leaves some daylight on his next AAV in hopes of leaving enough cap space to maintain the Oilers’ competitive window as long as possible.

We still have more than a year before we get an answer, of course. But with Draisaitl locked up, it feels like Edmonton has inched that much closer to making its Future Hall of Fame duo lifetime Oilers.

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