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The news coming out of Edmonton this morning of Leon Draisaitl’s eight-year, $112 million extension with the Oilers is not totally unexpected, but the fact that first move GM Stan Bowman made was to make him the highest-paid player in the NHL (more than $750,000 than Auston Matthews) presents the club with some problems going forward.

Problem #1 – Evan Bouchard: The 24-year-old is coming off a career-high 82-point season and has a year left on a two-year bridge deal. The Oilers will likely want to get him locked up on a max deal similar to Draisaitl, but it is likely that he will be looking for more than Darnell Nurse’s $9.25 million and getting rid of Nurse with six years remaining and a no-movement clause will be no easy task.

Problem #2 – Connor McDavid: If he’s not the best player in the world, he’s definitely the best player on the team, and he will expect the same type of extension next summer that Draisaitl got this summer. The Oilers may be willing to give that to him, but if they do not win this season or take a step back, could he simply play out the final year of his deal and leave Edmonton at the age of 29 to have a chance to win someplace else?

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