'Historic Day': Edmonton Oilers Sign Leon Draisaitl to Massive Eight-Year Extension

The Edmonton Oilers and Leon Draisaitl agreed to an eight-year contract extension worth $14 million per year.

The Edmonton Oilers kicked off September by announcing a monumental contract.

Forward Leon Draisaitl and the Oilers agreed to an eight-year contract extension with an average annual value of $14 million.

The new contract is slated to begin in the 2025-26 season, while he finishes an eight-year contract with an $8.5-million cap hit. He would have been a UFA after the 2024-25 season.

The $14-million average annual value will be the highest in the NHL as it stands.

“This is a historic day for the Edmonton Oilers,” GM Stan Bowman said in a news release. “Leon’s commitment to our team, our city and Oilers fans everywhere cannot be overstated. His desire to help bring a Stanley Cup title home to Edmonton is central to everything he does both on and off the ice.”

Draisaitl's contract includes a full-move clause, per The Athletic and TSN's Pierre LeBrun. 

The 28-year-old center from Cologne, Germany, has been one of the NHL's most productive stars since he entered the league in 2014-15.

Of all players to have played in the NHL from 2014-15 to 2023-24, Draiasitl has had the third-most points in that span, with his 850 career points trailing only Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov (855) and Oilers captain Connor McDavid (982). Draisaitl also has the fourth-most goals (347) and sixth-most assists (503).

But Draisaitl is also one of the NHL's top playoff performers, with 41 goals and 67 assists and 108 points in 74 post-season games. He even ranks fourth all-time in points per playoff game (1.46) among NHLers with at least 50 post-season games played.

Last season, Draisaitl had 41 goals, 65 assists and 106 points in 81 games. And in the Oilers' run to the Stanley Cup final, he had 10 goals, 21 assists and 31 points in 25 playoff games.

Draisaitl's career highs came in two of the last three seasons. He scored 55 goals in 2021-22, as well as 76 assists and 128 points in 2022-23.

But in 2019-20, cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, Draisaitl led the NHL. He won the Art Ross Trophy with 110 points in 71 games, and he was also voted the winner of the Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award.

Here's video reaction from Avry Lewis-McDougall:

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