Elliotte Friedman reveals whether he thinks Connor McDavid is staying in Edmonton or not
Elliotte Friedman recently shared his thoughts on Leon Draisaitl's historic contract extension, and what it means for the Oilers as they look to re-sign Connor McDavid next summer.
Stan Bowman, Jeff Jackson, and the rest of the Oilers were not messing around this summer. The team clearly wanted to cement their long-term future as contenders for the Stanley Cup, and they have done so after signing Leon Draisaitl to an eight-year extension worth 104 million dollars.
While the new contract is the largest handed out to a player in the Salary cap era, it is pretty obvious to anyone who has watched the Oilers in recent years that the German born center is worth every penny, especially since he is coming off one of the best bargain deals in NHL history.
He is without a doubt one of the league's most talented offensive forces, with a particular knack for scoring goals from sharp angels, especially on the powerplay. Furthermore, he is still only 28, with plenty of years of prime hockey left in the tank.
One any other team in the league, Draisaitl would be a franchise defining player. However, he just happens to play for the Edmonton Oilers, and so he will always play second fiddle to Connor McDavid. And it seems as though that will not be changing anytime soon, even though the Oilers mega star has just two years left on his current deal and will be eligible to sign an extension next July.
NHL insider Elliotte Friedman has already gone on the record stating that he believes Draisaitl signed this extension with McDavid in mind, and as such, the Oilers know how much money they are planning on giving him, so they have already come up with a plan to make this all work under the hard salary cap. Regardless, it appears as though McDavid and Draisaitl will be staying in Edmonton for many years to come, if not the entirety of their careers.
To this point in his career, Draisaitl has appeared in 719 career regular-season NHL games. He already has 347 career goals and a whooping 850 points to show for it. He's hit 100 points five times in his career, including two 110 point seasons and a career high of 128 two years ago.
Furthermore, he has 41 career playoff goals and 108 points in just 74 games. It is truly hard to imagine a team with both Draisaitl and Connor McDavid never winning a Stanley Cup, so the rest of the league should look out in the coming years as it is only a matter of time before the Oilers bring Lord Stanley back to Canada.
Source: HockeyReference
Leon Draisaitl career statistics
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