Leon Draisaitl pressures Edmonton Oilers with deadline for new contract

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Tyler Ball
August 26, 2024 (6:01 PM)

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This afternoon a new report has come out and revealed that Leon Draisaitl has set a firm deadline when he will cut off extension talks with the Edmonton Oilers.

The Edmonton Oilers are coming up on a major decision with superstar center Leon Draisaitl. He will be entering the final season of his contract during the 2024-25 season and still has not extension agreed to. At this point, talks are still ongoing but a major update was given today that has provided a lot of context about the negotiations.

According to the 2 Mutts Hockey Podcast contract talks are slated to pick up heavily between Leon Draisaitl and Stan Bowman in the next week.

Leon Draisaitl is scheduled to be in Edmonton within the next couple of days. This was a week that was very important to get this done.
Talks will pick up as him & Stan Bowman will meet in person.

The source also was able to provide context on a deadline for the negotiations and what a potential extension for Leon Draisaitl could look like when things are finalized.

Report confirms when Leon Draisaitl's contract needs to be signed by

The source continued and confirmed that Leon Draisaitl will refuse to negotiate his contract during the season. This means that the Edmonton Oilers will need to have the extension done by September 19th.

If there is no deal to be signed before September 19th Leon won't negotiate during the season. The goal is to get this done before that date as Leon doesn't want this to be a problem or a distraction going into training camp.

Lastly, a report has come in revealing that the Edmonton Oilers had a meeting at the end of the season led by Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid, and Evan Bouchard where they urged each other and the team as a whole to take team-friendly deals. This is due to the fact that many of the players want to stick around long-term and the only way to make that happen is to take team-friendly deals.

Getting Leon Draisaitl back on a deal below 14 million would be fantastic business for new GM Stan Bowman. Leon Draisaitl has eclipsed 100 points each season for the last 6 seasons other than the shortened season due to the pandemic. He is coming off of a season in 2023-24 where he tallied 41 goals and 106 total points.

If the Edmonton Oilers are in eventual need for salary cap space to make things work then Darnell Nurse could be a name to keep an eye on. He has a salary cap hit over 9 million and does not play nearly consistently enough to that level.

With NHL training camp approaching rapidly the Edmonton Oilers will need to take advantage of the meetings they have with Leon Draisaitl. If they do not get a deal done by the beginning of the season they risk losing out on Leon Draisaitl much like the Tampa Bay Lightning did with Steven Stamkos this summer.

Source: Elite Prospects
Leon Draisaitl Stats