TSN: No person needs to be nervous yet that Leon Draisaitl doesn’t have an extension done as Oilers offseason isn’t that old and there’s loads of time left this summer in response to Bryan Hayes. There’s also Connor McDavid’s wedding that would play into it.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Onrait: “Over the weekend Bryan, we heard from Leon Draisaitl’s agent. He said Leon wants a deal done by the tip of August.
So it looks like the green light has been given for Edmonton to sign this guy. But when you’re an Oilers fan, at what point do you develop into nervous if an extension hasn’t been agreed to?
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Hayes: “I believe it’s still until you get to camp, right? Such as you’ve got all summer. Let’s not forget they went to game seven of a Cup Final. Like, Leon Draisaitl, the Oilers front office, they were preoccupied.
The Oilers front office was immediately preoccupied with the draft, with free agency, Jeff Jackson in search of out a brand new GM with Ken Holland leaving. So there was loads on their plate.
Draisaitl has one other 12 months left. He can be there for camp. He’ll play out the season, hat is my belief. I believe that’s the idea of most individuals in Edmonton. And such as you referenced, Draisaitl’s agent’s open to the thought of talking about extension. I don’t think it’s as much about when the extension happens, it’s what that extension looks like.
And I’m gonna go TMZ somewhat bit on you here, Jay. Connor McDavid is getting married later within the month. You already know big story here in Southern Ontario, in Toronto, up in Muskoka. I’m sure it’s the identical thing out in Edmonton. Persons are aware McDavid’s getting married.
And that is all going to be linked, I believe Draisaitl’s future to Connor McDavid. And why I bring McDavid’s marriage up is because obviously he’s preoccupied, but in some unspecified time in the future, I’m sure Draisaitl and McDavid are going to have a chat and take a look at to work this out.
What does the long run appear like, right? Because I believe they’re mostly tied on the hip. It looks like Draisaitl’s gonna be there long-term. McDavid’s gonna be there long run and vice versa. And I do know individuals are really anxious about that in Edmonton nevertheless it does feel like that may very well be the case here.
So Draisaitl has a 12 months left, David’s got two years left. I’m not as fearful about when this gets done if I’m an Oilers fan, I’m more fearful about what it looks like. In the event you’re the Oilers and when you’re fan Oilers fan, you wish Draisaitl to sign for eight years. Give him $14 (million) a 12 months, $14.5 (million), whatever. He’s, he’s gonna push the envelope. He’s gonna receives a commission greater than Auston Matthews, the highest-paid player in the sport. He deserves that after which McDavid will go above him.
He signs for eight 12 months, that’s incredible. But when he signs for one, what he does is he matches up with McDavid. You guarantee Draisaitl, McDavid for 2 years. Two more years. That’s an incredible get. There’s 31 other fan bases within the league that might do anything for that.
Nevertheless it might open the door to certainly one of them leaving, each of them leaving. So I don’t think it’s as much about when this happens. I believe other fans are comfortable that Draisaitl can be back next 12 months. They’ll go for it again. Possibly it’s a final dance situation. Possibly it’s a Kawhi Leonard in ’19 situation with the Raptors and the chase the Stanley Cup.
But when McDavid is linked and Draisaitl doesn’t sign long run and it comes out that perhaps McDavid is indicated he’s not going to sign long run, that’s when really the anxiety starts to get crazy and the panic might set in.
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I don’t think it’s about timing. I don’t think it’s about this upcoming season. I believe it’s about Draisaitl, McDavid and their overall future in Edmonton. And I believe we’ll find that out greater than likely post-McDavid nuptials and positively by day certainly one of camp. That’s when the heats really going to begin to select up and I believe people in Edmonton, understandably, will want some kind of clarity on what’s going to occur with the long run of Draisaitl and again, by extension Connor McDavid.
