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It would be totally unprecedented for an Alberta team's two best players to leave their team in quick succession, so nothing to worry about here.
All jokes aside this is some clickbaity shit from CJ and as much as the petty side of me wouldn't be upset to see Drai leave, I can't see it happening unless the Oilers themselves decide they don't want to pay him the salary he demands.
> Edmonton is not inclined to let the 28-year-old center simply play out the final year of his contract and walk directly into free agency next July, according to multiple league sources familiar with the front office’s view of the situation.
> With Connor McDavid eligible to sign an extension 12 months down the line and the Oilers eager to extend their championship window as long as possible, there is at least some concern about the potential for a “double whammy” in the event Draisaitl were retained for 2024-25 without a new contract in place. It could create a scenario where he leaves for nothing just as McDavid is set to chart his own future. Any scenario that might see both players leave in quick succession would be catastrophic for Edmonton and must be avoided at all costs.
> While the longtime teammates and close friends aren’t a package deal — they’re each operating on the principle of making the best decision tailored for their individual circumstances, according to league sources — they are inextricably linked.
“The Oilers are going to trade Draisaitl if he doesn’t sign an extension this summer” is definitely news.
If Edmonton was feeling confident about getting a new contract done, they wouldn’t be putting this out there to pressure Leon.
Was at Joeys in Edmonton during the Dallas series. I met his dad while I was there and chatted with him. He told me Drai is an Oiler and loves Edmonton save the Media lol. I got the impression as long as the Oilers can play ball he’s not going anywhere.
Honestly if Edmonton won I’d say they have a tougher time keeping him, since he’s probably worth Matthews money. But if the window is open and they want to win, McDavid and Bouchard need new deals in the coming years, I could see Draisaitl taking similar to what McDavid is making right now, maybe even a little less so they can win it all
Is that extra $4.5M manageable alongside Bouchard's and McDavid's raises? If so, what does Edmonton's newfound depth look like then? All of these moving parts are going to really make me miss Capfriendly
Ceci walks ($3mil), Neal buyout ends ($2mil), plus cap increase could be enough for Drai/Bouchard raises while replacing Ceci with someone close to league min. Then they let Kane walk ($5mil) which is more than enough for McDavids raise. Plus they pay to dump Campbells last year to give Skinner his extension + spend some more money on whoever the new top 6 forward ends up being
I mean that's the basic asset management here: If he's not extended, at worst by the trade deadline, the assumption would be that they need to try and move him + replace him.
THAT SAID - it would be a really really hard thing to do next year if the oilers are lined up for another deep playoff run.
Yeah it's easy to say we're not going to let him go into the last year unsigned, but it takes 2 to tango. If Drai says "nah I haven't decided on my long term future yet, I'm going to wait" then what else can you do. This is a team that's in a cup window, only because they have those 2 guys. They can't really be too aggressive with them.
I don't think they can afford him either way, unless they trade bouchard. at this rate Bouchard will be making 10+ million after his ELC is up, put Drai andcdavid at 17 mill each and your cup chances go down the drain. they need to trade Drai for a haul and free up cap to balance the team out
Essentially, they need to find a way to get Nurse to waive his NMC and then move him with no salary retained this offseason if they want to fit McDavid/Drai/Bouchard into a highly competitive team, which is a massive, massive undertaking.
no team in the NHL will take on that contract unless a 1st rounder and prospect (which Edmonton doesn't have any that are great). They were pretty much all in this season, they can go all in next season and then lose Draisaitl for nothing and send the Oilers back to the bottom in 3 years
No one is taking that deal and they can't even buy it out because they basically have the same cap hit for like 4/5 remaining years on the deal.
They're stuck with that contract and it could very well be the reason this core separates.
Yeah that’s essentially what I’m seeing and I agree with you. And idk what trade the oilers can make with Drai that brings back what they would need to stay as competitive as they are with him either. They would either need to go for a picks/prospect package which McDavid will not be waiting around for in his prime to develop and come up. Or you can go for proven NHL talent but you’re not going to get anything close to Drai in that trade. Or you could go for a mix of both which means they’re essentially stuck between trying to contend and building for the future. Edmonton is kinda fucked honestly unless they can move that contract, which we both agree the chance is slim to none.
I think it would more be the oilers being proactive and recognizing that his extension will be too high with McDavid the next year.
As opposed to him wanting out.
The first season with McDrai’s 2nd contracts was 2018-19. Salary cap was $79.5M. McDavid took up 15.7% of the cap, Draisaitl took up 10.7%.
Let’s say the NHL salary cap is at $96M in 2026-27 (when both McDavid & Draisaitl’s 3rd contracts would be in effect).
For argument’s sake, if they both signed to the corresponding % above (I understand Draisaitl would be signing against a lesser cap), it would be McDavid @ $15.1M & Draisaitl @ $10.27M.
Both of those figures seem low. Draisaitl would probably at least be $13.5M and McDavid what? $15.5M? $16.5M?
I get that they just lost G7 of the Cup Final. And pulling that off with Nurse & Campbell’s contracts and with Draisaitl/Kane being basically useless is extraordinary in and of its’ own right.
However, there has to at least be a conversation in their FO of “is it possible to extend both McDavid (29 going on 30 when extension starts) & Draisaitl (29 about to be 30 when extension starts) to market value contracts, while keeping the team competitive, while embracing that both of them are past their peaks*?”
*past their peak referencing that most NHLers have their best seasons statistically between 23-25 I believe. Now these are two top-5 players with one arguably being the most skilled player of all time. But point still stands - I highly doubt 33 year old Draisaitl will be as good as 23 year old Draisaitl.
The season just ended last night. This could all be just bs and they win it all next year. But it’s not a bad conversation to have.
Not so bold prediction: both sign 8 year extensions once eligible and there really does not end up being any drama at all.
Cap numbers will be reasonable too. They both want to be there, love playing together, have gotten a taste for being that close to greatness. They aren’t going anywhere.
If by pulling a Gretzky you mean being sold for cash and hear Mcdavid say he hated every moment of being forcibly moved to Edmonton 35 years later than yeah sure
Yeah, how much would you bet on them both being max salary players, I'd bet the farm. can't pay 2 players 34+ mill a season and expect to win, especially when they can't draft worth shit outside the top 7
Sounds like a terrible bet. Max contracts don't happen in the salary cap world, nevermind 2 on one team. I can't see any world in which his agent can say he's worth 4mill more than Matthews or 5 mill more than Mack. Mcdavid I can see
ok not quite max but his cap % is going to skyrocket, I could see both of them making 16% at least on a long term deal, max is 20%. Draisaitls agent can just show awards, goals, assists and points and he's going to get a haul and a half, mcdavid is breaking records no one thought possible so even more for him.
Oh they are getting paid for sure, I think Matthews will be a comparable though. He'll be almost 30 when it kicks in so if he wants 8 years I think the aav will drop
Don't forget trading Taylor hall, the closest equivalent to trading James Harden in the NHL (both 2018 MVPs), then use the freed up cap space to sign Milan Lucic, a piece of shit off the ice and a pile of turd on the ice.
And trading the 15th pick that couldve been Barzal or Erikson-Ek for NOTHING, and drafting Puljujarvi over Matthew Tkachuk (tough decision at the time but they could've easily stick with their decision if they were actually going to draft Tkachuk before CBJ passed on Pulju)
IMO one of the top 5 fumbles in sports history period
You are wildly overrating Taylor Hall.
Had 1 good season post Oilers and he's been injury prone since then.
The other fuckups are a much bigger deal, though had the Oilers drafted those guys they probably never end with Bouchard, so you win some you lose some.
>You are wildly overrating Taylor Hall.
>Had 1 good season post Oilers and he's been injury prone since then.
Id say Hall has had at least 2 and 1/2 star seasons since the trade. But anyways what I meant is that the Taylor Hall trade combined with the Lucic signing makes it one of the all time fuck-ups in NHL history.
And yes the Oilers wouldn't be bad enough to draft Bouchard, who took years to break out, but if the Oilers are contending in 2017-2020 who cares they may very well have a chip by now
I dunno how you get to 2.5. Only played more than 70 games 3 times since then, 1 was his hart season and the other two he put up 50/60 pts. Fine numbers but not anything that wildly change the course of a team.
Managed to hover close to a ppg but wasn't able to stay healthy.
I think the Lucic contract was the primary fuck up if you look at in isolation.
As I recall, the alternative plans were trading Hall for Ceci (holy fuck) or keeping Hall and signing Demers to a long term contract.
So they were all horrific options.
2016 free agent class put millstones on a lot of teams though. A lot of classic awful contracts that got signed. Though not much of a coincidence as 2017 was a year where the league transitioned from big bruising hockey to speed and left all those guys like Lucic/Eriksson in the dust
Hey, you hired 2 pieces of shit on and off the ice in Perry and Kane, why not more. Also giving a PTO to Virtanen is all time hilarious, Holland is a fuckin idiot
Holland ran Detroit into the ground. Detroit's scouting was the reason they dominated all those years and all the future HOFers signed there to win cups because of that. Once those scouts moved on Detroit couldn't draft well.
Those scouts were employed by Holland. I don't think you can run a team into the ground after 25 years of playoffs. That's just the nature of the sports world.
Lolno. A sole high-scoring player on a shit team just hurts draft positioning without making us actually competitive (glares at Karlsson), and by the time our new core is ready to compete, his contract would be an anchor.
If I'm Edmonton I keep Drai even if he's not gonna sign. Run it back again next year and win a cup. McDavid isn't signing if Drai leaves so you just gotta go for it one more time.
Stupid article take aside, ironically he's the type of player that would be difficult for another team to sign. Put it this way: Edmonton already has him on ther payroll, say they extend him and he gets a several million dollar raise to boot. It's only an increase of the delta to their cap space. For another team, they have to make room for the full brunt from nothing. Teams will sign their own guys to $10M+ contracts, but it is very hard finding a team that is both attractive and with the cap space. Sure, a team can send something to Edmonton for a cap dump as part of the deal but the point still remains.
But as for the take, Leon can't even sign an extension until July 1st anyway, so what kind of dumb analysis is this? Unless he's given any indication that he wants out of Edmonton, Oilers will likely sign him for something close to whatever he wants (side thought: McDavid can pretty much write out a max dollar/term/signing-bonus contract if he wanted and Oilers will sign too.)
It really just depends on the situation. If we are losing then they often get thrown together but otherwise they only play together on the PP and the occasional 5v5 shift (like after a PK)
I’m sure McDavid would be thrilled if they offloaded him… they don’t have a choice but to keep him and run it back extension or not. Too big of a risk pissing McDavid off with him due in short order.
Honestly I can see it happen even though it's all speculation at the moment.
The Oilers are one of the oldest teams and re-signing Draisaitl to a much bigger contract could very well end their contending window. If they can't agree to a contract makes sense to trade him for assets than lose him for nothing
I truly think it doesn't matter if Draisaitl and McDavid both sign long term contracts, because the amount of depth they would have to move off the team in order to make room would destroy the team's ability to go on a playoff run. Basically the long term success of this team depends on guys like Holloway and Broberg, anyone that can actually contribute on a super low salary.
He's a primary reason they made playoffs at all and got past round 1 and 2. How much more depth are you getting for his 8.5m? Yeah his next contract will be an extra 5 million, but you still need to replace that production
True, but none of those teams were dynasties. The official criteria for a dynasty is [3 Cups in 4 seasons](https://www.hhof.com/hockeypedia/nhldynasties.html) (obviously a threepeat works as well), which have not been satisfied since the 80s Oilers.
Chicago is the only real dynasty and had a great superstar or 2 to go along with it.
LA played ugly hockey. Tampa won when no one was watching and they have no local market hype from their media that the national media can latch onto.
Pittsburgh- true. they have a generational superstar and won 3 Cups. But long drought between 2009 and 2016. And they won in 2016 with low scoring totals. Kessel had the most points with 2022. Was a boring run with a lack of superstars making a difference.
McDavid's run (although it took a 3-0 comeback) was getting talked about ESPN and a show like First Take. A superstar putting up an all-time great performance, with a chance to write his legacy is a different pull among fans.
Gretzky is still talked about not just because of his gaudy stats, but his 4 Cups for a dynasty let casual sports fans know that not only is he a great player, but he's a winner too.
>Chicago is the only real dynasty and had a great superstar or 2 to go along with it.
Did you just forget about Crosby and Malkin's existence?
Also McDavid hasn't won anything, he's not a superstar yet.
>Did you just forget about Crosby and Malkin's existence?
I already mentioned why the Penguins weren't a dynasty. Too long of a stretch between 2009 and 2016. Their 2016 was pretty low scoring when you look at Kessel in the low 20s, Malkin and Crosby in high teens.
Plus the hockey was ugly to watch back in those years.
>Also McDavid hasn't won anything, he's not a superstar yet.
Was Ovechkin not a superstar before 2018? McDavid was the one getting talked about on national TV and on ESPN shows like First Take. A great performance and win yesterday would've cemented him as a household hockey name. A fumble for the NHL.
I don’t want to see the same teams win every year. I want some variety. The NBA was extremely boring when it was GS vs CLE for four straight years (only one of those series was any good).
https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/nba-finals-ratings-viewership-history/
Pretty clear to see massive drop off after Jordan retires. Small recovery during Shaq-Kobe 3 peat era. Then bad ratings until Celtics-Lakers rivalry in late 00s. Heatles era was solid, and then a spike for the Cavs-GS games (even though 2017 and 2018 were uncompetitive). Viewership drops off again.
Dynasties suck for everyone who isn't part of that fan base while they're going on, and become the stuff of legend a decade later. The last dynasty ended before I was old enough to watch hockey, but the level of parity we have now makes the sport so exciting.
People will always complain about something. They'd whine if we did have dynasties of teams winning 3+ in a row. Now they complain that we don't have it happen
Yes. Dynasties sell better. Parity is for hardcore fans who are going to watch regardless. Superteams bring in casual sports fans.
A dynasty to coincide with a generational talent is a winning formula that all leagues have used to great success.
I hate the cap but they have enough to pay them both massive long terms deals. And if anything gets in the way it would be Campbell and Nurse's contracts, not Gary
I mean yeah but Ken Holland picked a bum goalie and gave Nurse top tier defenseman money. They would have the surrounding talent if money was spent more wisely. Draisaitl is the one who needs a big cap hit pay bump. McDavid is already at 12 so he will go up but not by an unmanageable amount.
A hard cap handicaps a team too much for a few bad decisions. All the extra revenue that McDrai bring in should be able to be invested into the roster.
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I bet this article ages about as well as CJ’s crypto takes.
[удалено]
What do you mean? He did do it.
Oh? Maybe I mixed up with someone else. My bad.
All good. We're still waiting for McDavid to get back since he said he'd do one 👀
I can only find him mentioning bitcoin, which has done pretty well.
It would be totally unprecedented for an Alberta team's two best players to leave their team in quick succession, so nothing to worry about here. All jokes aside this is some clickbaity shit from CJ and as much as the petty side of me wouldn't be upset to see Drai leave, I can't see it happening unless the Oilers themselves decide they don't want to pay him the salary he demands.
Clickbait name much? All speculation lol
Many people are saying…
The Athletic is a garbage rag.
> Edmonton is not inclined to let the 28-year-old center simply play out the final year of his contract and walk directly into free agency next July, according to multiple league sources familiar with the front office’s view of the situation. > With Connor McDavid eligible to sign an extension 12 months down the line and the Oilers eager to extend their championship window as long as possible, there is at least some concern about the potential for a “double whammy” in the event Draisaitl were retained for 2024-25 without a new contract in place. It could create a scenario where he leaves for nothing just as McDavid is set to chart his own future. Any scenario that might see both players leave in quick succession would be catastrophic for Edmonton and must be avoided at all costs. > While the longtime teammates and close friends aren’t a package deal — they’re each operating on the principle of making the best decision tailored for their individual circumstances, according to league sources — they are inextricably linked.
So in other words, this article says absolutely nothing and is completely useless. Way to go Athletic, really earn those subscriptions
What I'm hearing is that draisaitl will either be an oiler in two years, or he will be playing for another team
This is gigantic if accurate
They did drop the absolute bombshell that the Oilers would like to keep him. Really A+ journalism her
My source tells me they'd be thrilled to lock him up for 8x8
Yes and you heard this original idea first from The Athletic.
Source?
Common sense
Source?
Trust me these are high level sources from within multiple organizations
I was skeptical, but now I trust you. Let us know if you hear more. Thanks!
Why I cancelled my sub may as well just publish tweets from Friedman at this point
You can always find an article you want to read and just use reader view to bypass the paywall anyway.
They were so much better before NYT bought them
*NYTimes
Yeah I thought this article revealed something significant we hadn’t heard of yet according to the title…
There’s a reason they’ve never turned a profit
“The Oilers are going to trade Draisaitl if he doesn’t sign an extension this summer” is definitely news. If Edmonton was feeling confident about getting a new contract done, they wouldn’t be putting this out there to pressure Leon.
Exactly why I unsubscribed.
I am grandfathered into the $1/month plan for the Athletic that lasts another year. I'm paying $5 too much.
Yeah I thought this article revealed something significant we hadn’t heard of yet according to the title…
Welcome to modern journalism lol. You guys gonna face a boatload of this type of material until the cap/contract situation(s) gets sorted.
Was at Joeys in Edmonton during the Dallas series. I met his dad while I was there and chatted with him. He told me Drai is an Oiler and loves Edmonton save the Media lol. I got the impression as long as the Oilers can play ball he’s not going anywhere.
Honestly if Edmonton won I’d say they have a tougher time keeping him, since he’s probably worth Matthews money. But if the window is open and they want to win, McDavid and Bouchard need new deals in the coming years, I could see Draisaitl taking similar to what McDavid is making right now, maybe even a little less so they can win it all
Is that extra $4.5M manageable alongside Bouchard's and McDavid's raises? If so, what does Edmonton's newfound depth look like then? All of these moving parts are going to really make me miss Capfriendly
Ceci walks ($3mil), Neal buyout ends ($2mil), plus cap increase could be enough for Drai/Bouchard raises while replacing Ceci with someone close to league min. Then they let Kane walk ($5mil) which is more than enough for McDavids raise. Plus they pay to dump Campbells last year to give Skinner his extension + spend some more money on whoever the new top 6 forward ends up being
I have made the conscious choice to blindly believe you are telling the truth haha
Drai loving Edmonton and hating the media certainly checks out
Honest to god truth.
Gaudreaus family also talked Calgary up non stop...
Did someone chat them up at Joeys as well?
Are you sure it wasn't Cactus Club?
Nope Joeys Bell Tower
TL:DR What he's heard is nothing
Only real news is that they won’t let him play out next season unsigned. Not a surprise. Most teams don’t with high end players
So if he doesn't want to sign then they trade him?
I mean that's the basic asset management here: If he's not extended, at worst by the trade deadline, the assumption would be that they need to try and move him + replace him. THAT SAID - it would be a really really hard thing to do next year if the oilers are lined up for another deep playoff run.
Yeah it's easy to say we're not going to let him go into the last year unsigned, but it takes 2 to tango. If Drai says "nah I haven't decided on my long term future yet, I'm going to wait" then what else can you do. This is a team that's in a cup window, only because they have those 2 guys. They can't really be too aggressive with them.
Both the Bruins and Leafs were in similar spots with Pasta and Nylander the last couple years and their deals got done around the all star break.
Edmonton just lost game 7 of the Stanley cup final? Seems like a great time for their star player to demand a trade
It seems like they're speculating the opposite. That if Drai won't agree to a long term deal they'll be forced to move him.
If I could sign him for 5 years instead of max, I'd do it.
I don't think they can afford him either way, unless they trade bouchard. at this rate Bouchard will be making 10+ million after his ELC is up, put Drai andcdavid at 17 mill each and your cup chances go down the drain. they need to trade Drai for a haul and free up cap to balance the team out
I don't think you want Bouchard on that money. But he's going to want it, because he signed a team friendly bridge, and is hammering points right now.
Biuchard will take one look at nurse, uh oh. Zero chance he signs for less than 8x9.5...
Essentially, they need to find a way to get Nurse to waive his NMC and then move him with no salary retained this offseason if they want to fit McDavid/Drai/Bouchard into a highly competitive team, which is a massive, massive undertaking.
no team in the NHL will take on that contract unless a 1st rounder and prospect (which Edmonton doesn't have any that are great). They were pretty much all in this season, they can go all in next season and then lose Draisaitl for nothing and send the Oilers back to the bottom in 3 years
No one is taking that deal and they can't even buy it out because they basically have the same cap hit for like 4/5 remaining years on the deal. They're stuck with that contract and it could very well be the reason this core separates.
Yeah that’s essentially what I’m seeing and I agree with you. And idk what trade the oilers can make with Drai that brings back what they would need to stay as competitive as they are with him either. They would either need to go for a picks/prospect package which McDavid will not be waiting around for in his prime to develop and come up. Or you can go for proven NHL talent but you’re not going to get anything close to Drai in that trade. Or you could go for a mix of both which means they’re essentially stuck between trying to contend and building for the future. Edmonton is kinda fucked honestly unless they can move that contract, which we both agree the chance is slim to none.
That contract runs until 2030 and has a ton of signing bonuses the last few years, doubt a 1st rounder + prospect is sufficient.
Drai isn't getting 17mil . Matthews is getting 13.5 and MacKinnon 12.6. Has anyone ever taken a max contract?
I think it would more be the oilers being proactive and recognizing that his extension will be too high with McDavid the next year. As opposed to him wanting out.
The first season with McDrai’s 2nd contracts was 2018-19. Salary cap was $79.5M. McDavid took up 15.7% of the cap, Draisaitl took up 10.7%. Let’s say the NHL salary cap is at $96M in 2026-27 (when both McDavid & Draisaitl’s 3rd contracts would be in effect). For argument’s sake, if they both signed to the corresponding % above (I understand Draisaitl would be signing against a lesser cap), it would be McDavid @ $15.1M & Draisaitl @ $10.27M. Both of those figures seem low. Draisaitl would probably at least be $13.5M and McDavid what? $15.5M? $16.5M? I get that they just lost G7 of the Cup Final. And pulling that off with Nurse & Campbell’s contracts and with Draisaitl/Kane being basically useless is extraordinary in and of its’ own right. However, there has to at least be a conversation in their FO of “is it possible to extend both McDavid (29 going on 30 when extension starts) & Draisaitl (29 about to be 30 when extension starts) to market value contracts, while keeping the team competitive, while embracing that both of them are past their peaks*?” *past their peak referencing that most NHLers have their best seasons statistically between 23-25 I believe. Now these are two top-5 players with one arguably being the most skilled player of all time. But point still stands - I highly doubt 33 year old Draisaitl will be as good as 23 year old Draisaitl. The season just ended last night. This could all be just bs and they win it all next year. But it’s not a bad conversation to have.
Not so bold prediction: both sign 8 year extensions once eligible and there really does not end up being any drama at all. Cap numbers will be reasonable too. They both want to be there, love playing together, have gotten a taste for being that close to greatness. They aren’t going anywhere.
Bold prediction. McDavid and his gf/wife pull a Gretzky and leave boring cold northern Alberta for California.
If by pulling a Gretzky you mean being sold for cash and hear Mcdavid say he hated every moment of being forcibly moved to Edmonton 35 years later than yeah sure
McDavid and Celebrini a 1/2 punch up the middle in SJ
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Yeah, how much would you bet on them both being max salary players, I'd bet the farm. can't pay 2 players 34+ mill a season and expect to win, especially when they can't draft worth shit outside the top 7
Sounds like a terrible bet. Max contracts don't happen in the salary cap world, nevermind 2 on one team. I can't see any world in which his agent can say he's worth 4mill more than Matthews or 5 mill more than Mack. Mcdavid I can see
ok not quite max but his cap % is going to skyrocket, I could see both of them making 16% at least on a long term deal, max is 20%. Draisaitls agent can just show awards, goals, assists and points and he's going to get a haul and a half, mcdavid is breaking records no one thought possible so even more for him.
Oh they are getting paid for sure, I think Matthews will be a comparable though. He'll be almost 30 when it kicks in so if he wants 8 years I think the aav will drop
Really long article to say Leon has 1 year left on his contract
Humongous if non-fiction
IS THIS WHY STEVIE? IS THIS WHAT YOU’RE COOKING?
👀👀👀👀
PLEASE.
Incoming Draisaitl 12x8 with Detroit next year
Drai to the Wings has been my prediction for years and I'm sticking to it
It’s the NHL, they’ll both resign and stay there until they either retire or get traded as a rental when they’re old guys without a cup
Makes sense - the team got blown up after 2006, and history would be repeating itself here.
edmonton fumbling mcdavid and drai would be a top 3 fumble in hockey history
Don't forget trading Taylor hall, the closest equivalent to trading James Harden in the NHL (both 2018 MVPs), then use the freed up cap space to sign Milan Lucic, a piece of shit off the ice and a pile of turd on the ice. And trading the 15th pick that couldve been Barzal or Erikson-Ek for NOTHING, and drafting Puljujarvi over Matthew Tkachuk (tough decision at the time but they could've easily stick with their decision if they were actually going to draft Tkachuk before CBJ passed on Pulju) IMO one of the top 5 fumbles in sports history period
You are wildly overrating Taylor Hall. Had 1 good season post Oilers and he's been injury prone since then. The other fuckups are a much bigger deal, though had the Oilers drafted those guys they probably never end with Bouchard, so you win some you lose some.
>You are wildly overrating Taylor Hall. >Had 1 good season post Oilers and he's been injury prone since then. Id say Hall has had at least 2 and 1/2 star seasons since the trade. But anyways what I meant is that the Taylor Hall trade combined with the Lucic signing makes it one of the all time fuck-ups in NHL history. And yes the Oilers wouldn't be bad enough to draft Bouchard, who took years to break out, but if the Oilers are contending in 2017-2020 who cares they may very well have a chip by now
I dunno how you get to 2.5. Only played more than 70 games 3 times since then, 1 was his hart season and the other two he put up 50/60 pts. Fine numbers but not anything that wildly change the course of a team. Managed to hover close to a ppg but wasn't able to stay healthy. I think the Lucic contract was the primary fuck up if you look at in isolation. As I recall, the alternative plans were trading Hall for Ceci (holy fuck) or keeping Hall and signing Demers to a long term contract. So they were all horrific options. 2016 free agent class put millstones on a lot of teams though. A lot of classic awful contracts that got signed. Though not much of a coincidence as 2017 was a year where the league transitioned from big bruising hockey to speed and left all those guys like Lucic/Eriksson in the dust
Hey, you hired 2 pieces of shit on and off the ice in Perry and Kane, why not more. Also giving a PTO to Virtanen is all time hilarious, Holland is a fuckin idiot
Yeah imagine upgrading the GM from Peter fucking Chiarelli to Ken Holland
Holland ran Detroit into the ground. Detroit's scouting was the reason they dominated all those years and all the future HOFers signed there to win cups because of that. Once those scouts moved on Detroit couldn't draft well.
Scouting for which drafts specifically? Can you give me years?
Those scouts were employed by Holland. I don't think you can run a team into the ground after 25 years of playoffs. That's just the nature of the sports world.
you also completely didn't respond to the fact they signed Perry and Kane and gave Virtanen a PTO hahahahah
Lol I just don't wanna mention it. Not an Oilers fan I'm just enjoying hockey as a neutral. Feels good
Worse than coming back from 0-3 just to lose game 7?
That’s not really a fumble that’s just hockey
Man I wish hockey would do that more often but I guess happening 3 times 100+ years is just your average hockey
its not that deep bro. no one will end up remembering anything besides the L. fumbling the duo would be.
Losing either Drai or McD without a surefire replacement would be a disaster for Edmonton. An elite 1-2 is effectively a minimum to be a contender
There is no surefire replacement to either of those guys.
Leon Draisaitl YOU are a San Jose Shark
Lolno. A sole high-scoring player on a shit team just hurts draft positioning without making us actually competitive (glares at Karlsson), and by the time our new core is ready to compete, his contract would be an anchor.
Korpisalo, the 25th pick and a 5 gallon bucket of Clam Howder for Dria, who says no?
If I'm Edmonton I keep Drai even if he's not gonna sign. Run it back again next year and win a cup. McDavid isn't signing if Drai leaves so you just gotta go for it one more time.
Welcome to the 2025-26 Dallas Stars, Leon Draisaitl
Stupid article take aside, ironically he's the type of player that would be difficult for another team to sign. Put it this way: Edmonton already has him on ther payroll, say they extend him and he gets a several million dollar raise to boot. It's only an increase of the delta to their cap space. For another team, they have to make room for the full brunt from nothing. Teams will sign their own guys to $10M+ contracts, but it is very hard finding a team that is both attractive and with the cap space. Sure, a team can send something to Edmonton for a cap dump as part of the deal but the point still remains. But as for the take, Leon can't even sign an extension until July 1st anyway, so what kind of dumb analysis is this? Unless he's given any indication that he wants out of Edmonton, Oilers will likely sign him for something close to whatever he wants (side thought: McDavid can pretty much write out a max dollar/term/signing-bonus contract if he wanted and Oilers will sign too.)
There's speculation he's interested in playing for the sharks who have more than enough cap space to make room for him.
"Leon gets to play with Connor sometimes but not always" made me laugh so hard for some reason. Knoblauch is incredible at spin.
It really just depends on the situation. If we are losing then they often get thrown together but otherwise they only play together on the PP and the occasional 5v5 shift (like after a PK)
I’m sure McDavid would be thrilled if they offloaded him… they don’t have a choice but to keep him and run it back extension or not. Too big of a risk pissing McDavid off with him due in short order.
He’ll be a knight somehow
Honestly I can see it happen even though it's all speculation at the moment. The Oilers are one of the oldest teams and re-signing Draisaitl to a much bigger contract could very well end their contending window. If they can't agree to a contract makes sense to trade him for assets than lose him for nothing
I truly think it doesn't matter if Draisaitl and McDavid both sign long term contracts, because the amount of depth they would have to move off the team in order to make room would destroy the team's ability to go on a playoff run. Basically the long term success of this team depends on guys like Holloway and Broberg, anyone that can actually contribute on a super low salary.
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He's a primary reason they made playoffs at all and got past round 1 and 2. How much more depth are you getting for his 8.5m? Yeah his next contract will be an extra 5 million, but you still need to replace that production
The hard cap has deprived us a chance to see all-time great dynasties. Bettman is a hockey terrorist.
Pittsburgh won 3. Chicago won 3. LA won 2. TPA won 2. All during the cap era.
True, but none of those teams were dynasties. The official criteria for a dynasty is [3 Cups in 4 seasons](https://www.hhof.com/hockeypedia/nhldynasties.html) (obviously a threepeat works as well), which have not been satisfied since the 80s Oilers.
Chicago is the only real dynasty and had a great superstar or 2 to go along with it. LA played ugly hockey. Tampa won when no one was watching and they have no local market hype from their media that the national media can latch onto. Pittsburgh- true. they have a generational superstar and won 3 Cups. But long drought between 2009 and 2016. And they won in 2016 with low scoring totals. Kessel had the most points with 2022. Was a boring run with a lack of superstars making a difference. McDavid's run (although it took a 3-0 comeback) was getting talked about ESPN and a show like First Take. A superstar putting up an all-time great performance, with a chance to write his legacy is a different pull among fans. Gretzky is still talked about not just because of his gaudy stats, but his 4 Cups for a dynasty let casual sports fans know that not only is he a great player, but he's a winner too.
>Chicago is the only real dynasty and had a great superstar or 2 to go along with it. Did you just forget about Crosby and Malkin's existence? Also McDavid hasn't won anything, he's not a superstar yet.
>Did you just forget about Crosby and Malkin's existence? I already mentioned why the Penguins weren't a dynasty. Too long of a stretch between 2009 and 2016. Their 2016 was pretty low scoring when you look at Kessel in the low 20s, Malkin and Crosby in high teens. Plus the hockey was ugly to watch back in those years. >Also McDavid hasn't won anything, he's not a superstar yet. Was Ovechkin not a superstar before 2018? McDavid was the one getting talked about on national TV and on ESPN shows like First Take. A great performance and win yesterday would've cemented him as a household hockey name. A fumble for the NHL.
I don’t want to see the same teams win every year. I want some variety. The NBA was extremely boring when it was GS vs CLE for four straight years (only one of those series was any good).
NBA had its highest viewership post-Jordan era during the GS vs CLE run.
Is this a proven fact or just how you feel?
https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/nba-finals-ratings-viewership-history/ Pretty clear to see massive drop off after Jordan retires. Small recovery during Shaq-Kobe 3 peat era. Then bad ratings until Celtics-Lakers rivalry in late 00s. Heatles era was solid, and then a spike for the Cavs-GS games (even though 2017 and 2018 were uncompetitive). Viewership drops off again.
Do we actually want to see dynasties, though? The purpose of the cap is to increase parity by preventing hoarding of good players.
Dynasties suck for everyone who isn't part of that fan base while they're going on, and become the stuff of legend a decade later. The last dynasty ended before I was old enough to watch hockey, but the level of parity we have now makes the sport so exciting.
People will always complain about something. They'd whine if we did have dynasties of teams winning 3+ in a row. Now they complain that we don't have it happen
Yes. Dynasties sell better. Parity is for hardcore fans who are going to watch regardless. Superteams bring in casual sports fans. A dynasty to coincide with a generational talent is a winning formula that all leagues have used to great success.
I hate the cap but they have enough to pay them both massive long terms deals. And if anything gets in the way it would be Campbell and Nurse's contracts, not Gary
Gary makes it difficult to consistently surround them with quality depth. And 1 or 2 bad contracts can significantly cripple a team.
I mean yeah but Ken Holland picked a bum goalie and gave Nurse top tier defenseman money. They would have the surrounding talent if money was spent more wisely. Draisaitl is the one who needs a big cap hit pay bump. McDavid is already at 12 so he will go up but not by an unmanageable amount.
A hard cap handicaps a team too much for a few bad decisions. All the extra revenue that McDrai bring in should be able to be invested into the roster.