I'm not too down on it, as it is almost exactly the same game the Flames played with Johnny Gaudreau last year.
They took a gamble by paying up, based on a pretty small sample size. Gaudreau had one more point in 2015-2016 (78) than Draisaitl had in 2016-2017, but both players turned that great season into long-term lucrative deals. I get JG didn't have McDavid on his line, etc. but the gamble is similar by both clubs.
Drai signed for almost $2MM more, but admittedly, is a big centerman (which usually demand a premium), has shown he can play with their franchise cornerstone, and as much as it hurts- showed himself a lot better in his limited playoff time than JG did.
So while it could blow up on Edmonton (and as a Flames fan, I'm obviously sorta hoping it does!), I think the deal makes sense for them as a valid gamble and is pretty much in line with recent deals done by others, here and elsewhere. Too early to call yet.
|