On Tuesday (Sept. 3) the Edmonton Oilers signed star forward Leon Draisaitl to an eight-year contract extension worth $112 million, for an average annual value (AAV) of $14 million. The extension kicks in on July 1, 2025, when Draisaitl’s current eight-year deal is set to expire.
The contract has the highest AAV and second largest total value (behind only the 13-year, $124 million deal that Alex Ovechkin signed with the Washington Capitals in 2008) in NHL history.
Draisaitl now has the biggest contract ever signed with the Oilers, surpassing team captain Connor McDavid, who has two seasons left on his eight-year, $100 million deal.
Considering there was a time when Edmonton couldn’t even afford to retain its top players, for the Oilers to now have two homegrown stars with nine-figure deals seems surreal.
However, since the NHL imposed a salary cap in 2005, the Oilers have now handed out eight contracts worth at least $40 million. Here’s a look at all of them:
Leon Draisaitl – $112 Million
The Oilers avoided going into 2024-25 with the risk of having Draisaitl hitting free agency at season’s end by inking the 28-year-old to a historic contract on Tuesday.
Related: Grading Oilers’ Monster Contract Extension for Leon Draisaitl
Draisaitl will be age 37 when the deal expires in 2033, and if he remains with the Oilers through the length of the contract, he will have spent 19 seasons in Edmonton. The current franchise record for most seasons playing at least one game is 15, shared by Kevin Lowe and Ryan Smyth.
Connor McDavid – $100 Million
Fresh off winning the Art Ross Trophy and Hart Trophy, both for the first time, in 2016-17, McDavid signed an eight-year extension worth $100 million on July 5, 2017. At the time he was the fifth player in NHL history to receive a nine-figure contract.
When the extension kicked in for the 2018-19 season, McDavid became the NHL’s highest-paid player based on AAV, at $12.5 million per season. He has since been surpassed by Colorado Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon, whose latest contract carries an AAV of $12.6 million, and now Draisaitl.
Darnell Nurse – $74 Million
On Aug. 6, 2021, one season before he would become eligible for free agency, Darnell Nurse signed an eight-year contract extension worth $74 million on Aug. 6, 2021, the biggest deal Edmonton has ever given…
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