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Will McDavid and Draisaitl Stay in Edmonton? |
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Today marks the 35th anniversary of when the Edmonton Oilers traded Wayne Gretzky to the LA Kings. It's a day that Oilers fans are still haunted by. Ask any Oilers fan who was alive in 1988 and they will tell you exactly where they were when they heard about the trade.
Today the Oilers have the best player in the NHL in Connor McDavid and another elite player in Leon Draisaitl. Both players look like they are on track to have Hall of Fame careers... but will those careers be entirely with the Edmonton Oilers.
Today the Hotstove asks that question, will the Oilers be able to sign McDavid and Draisaitl to new contracts?
Sean Maloughney
Today it is looking like a better chance than ever that both McDavid and Draisaitl will not only sign extensions with the Edmonton Oilers, but likely retire as Oilers. The hiring of McDavid's now former agent Jeff Jackson as the new CEO of Hockey Ops will help this fact but the main reason will come down to the team remaining competitive. While Holland has certainly stumbled along the way, the Oilers do have a core group that is capable of winning. Whether they ultimately do win a Cup remains to be seen but as long as the team can prove they are in the mix I believe both of these players want to stay in Edmonton.
These two are not only the best and among the best in the NHL but they are also close friends and intangibles like that matter. These two love playing together and Edmonton is the only place they are going to be able to do that. Oilers fans have dealt with some tumultuous times but they should feel confident today that they will have the privilege of watching these two for years to come.
As far as the price tag goes for both, the cap is going to start increasing again over the next couple of seasons. Whatever McDavid or Draisaitl want... pay them.
Jacob Billington
I think they will both re-sign with the Oilers. It took a while, but management is finally in a place that they have a great supporting cast around the two best players in the NHL. They both seem very dedicated to winning in Edmonton, and with the rise of the salary cap, the Oilers will be looking to keep room over the next two and three years to give them both their much-deserved pay raises.
It is not often that a player of either of their caliber gets to play with someone else that talented. They are both dominant in the playoffs, and with the acquisitions of Hyman, Ekholm and the uprise of Bouchard, the Oilers are in a better place than ever to truly contend and go on deep playoff runs for the next while. They have a long window for contention opening up.
Dan Wallace
Edmonton is finally making progress in the post season. They have the top player in the league and with Leon Draisaitl that forms the most lethal duo the league has currently.
There is absolutely no reason to not move forward with both players. The fact that they have not yet reached the pinnacle is reason enough to stay the course and continue to fortify around McDavid and Draisaitl.
It is easy to point at the Capitals and Penguins who will struggle soon as they deal with the aging stars entering the twilight of their careers.
Those teams have won the Cup and with the acquisition of Erik Karlsson, the Pens are taking one last kick at the Cup with their Hall of Fame trio still producing at their advanced ages.
Edmonton is far from that stage of the game, and winning the Stanley Cup is all that matters. That said the Oilers best chances are with McDavid and Draisaitl leading the way together.
Josh Biringer
"McDavid stays, Draisaitl plays the market. McDavid's agent has just taken over the position of CEO for the Oilers. He's not going anywhere while Jeff Jackson is overseeing a massive role. Draisaitl on the hand may want to play the market and see where he would go. If he is looking for a team to go all the way, he might head to the Metro Division which is getting more competitive every season. Or maybe Boston, who's looking to avoid a painful rebuild following the retirements of Krejci and Bergeron."
Zak MacMillan
If ownership does not want to keep their jobs, they move one or both. The time for the Oilers to win the Stanley Cup is now, and they have two of the top three best players in the world on their roster.
The rest of the team has to keep up with the Oilers’ best. The depth, skill, toughness, and goaltending are not there. Sure, losing to the eventual cup winner looks good, but being the cup winner is better.
McDavid will get the max deal when the cap goes up and when his deal expires. Drasatil may be a half a million behind McDavid. If that comes the case, then yes.
Short term? They both stay. Long term? Move Leon, keep Connor.
Jeremy Laura
In some ways, next year is going to be really important to McDavid and Draisaitl. Draisaitl can extend and McDavid will be watching. If, in Toronto, Matthews gets a 13m+ deal in the 3 to 5 year range I don’t know what McDavid will do. Draisaitl could be looking for what Nylander is asking for (10m) if those reports are accurate. A lot depends on the cap, and the team’s advancement.
The west is a completely different beast than the east. With 3 California teams at various stages of rebuild, 2 most recent cup champs, Arizona doing whatever they’re in the middle of, Chicago is stripped down and Calgary is having some sort of internal issue where players are wanting to move on. While in the East Boston has lost some pieces, losing Bergeron changes the team completely. But, you still have 2 teams in Florida, NYR, NYI, Buffalo has acquired some high end talent and Carolina is tough. Toronto is facing a cap issue too, but a different situation.
In short, Edmonton needs to dominate the West. The pair of McDavid and Draisaitl remind me a lot of Crosby and Malkin (with more goals). Detroit came very close after the 1995 season to sending Yzerman packing (rumors say he was on a private plane and a last minute call stopped that flight). I doubt seeing Eichel lift the cup was something that made McDavid very happy, but he can turn anything into a motivator.
We are in a flat cap. Everything I’ve heard and will hear next week is showing a big shift in sports presentation. You need money for these 2 all world players as well as the ability to make sure the pieces are there for a long and painful post season. I feel like McDavid wants to win in Edmonton. I also think he’s probably had some serious conversations. In the eye of history, a cup without his name on it would be a loss. A great loss. If the Oil can put together a run that gets them closer than ever, I think both players will want to see the job get finished in Edmonton and stick there for the long haul.
Thanks for reading!
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