Oilers make Leon Draisaitl NHL's highest-paid player with eight-year, $14 million AAV extension
Photo credit: NBC News
The Edmonton Oilers announced that they have signed forward Leon Draisaitl to an eight-year contract extension. The deal will carry an AAV of $14 million through the 2032-33 season, making him the highest-paid player in the NHL.
The contract makes Draisaitl's new deal the richest per year in NHL history, passing Auston Matthews' $13.25 million cap hit and Nathan Mackinnon's $12.6 million AAV. The deal has a total value of $112 million. Vancouver Canucks centre Elias Pettersson now goes from the fifth-highest to sixth-highest paid player in the NHL next season.
Draisaitl, who turns 29 in October, has 347 goals and 503 assists through 719 career games. In 2022-23, he recorded 128 points and scored 50 goals for the third time in his career. The extension essentially keeps Draisaitl in Edmonton for the remainder of his career, as it won't expire until Draisaitl heads into his age 38 season.
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Connor McDavid is eligible to sign a contract extension on July 1st, 2025, and needs a new deal by the start of the 2026-27 season. Tick tock!
It never really seemed like a possibility that Draisaitl would ever leave Edmonton, and the Oilers' competitive window appears to be as open for as long as McDavid and Draisaitl can stay together. Draisaitl won the Hart Memorial Trophy as league MVP in the 2019-20 season, along with the Art Ross Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award.
| POLL | ||
3 SEPTEMBRE | 35 ANSWERS Oilers make Leon Draisaitl NHL's highest-paid player with eight-year, $14 million AAV extension Does Leon Draisaitl deserve to be the NHL's highest paid Player? | ||
| YES | 10 | 28.6 % |
| NO | 25 | 71.4 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
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