The biggest issue with this signing is the sheer amount of risk involved. Both players have not yet proven that they can produce at the rate they did last season without each other; and at $21 million between them, it's almost expected that they'll both have to drive their own lines separate from one another at some point.
I don't doubt McDavid can do it again with or without Draisaitl on his wing, but what happens when Draisaitl is forced to center his own line without McDavid doing the heavy lifting, can he produce 77 points again driving the second line? I've been told his advanced numbers aren't great without McDavid. Apparently GF60% and GF44% split with and without McDavid. Not sure the exact math on how that translates to his point totals, but it doesn't look good.
I think the risk vs reward could easily bite the Oilers in the ass in the future. They rewarded them for one good year and both players showed some res flags when playing away from each other. With the amount of money spent on the duo and along with guys like Lucic ($6m), I just don't see them having enough quality depth down the road to realistically compete the rest of the 40 mins when McDavid and Draisaitl aren't on the ice.
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