Quote:
Originally Posted by Textcritic
On the other side of this, Leon Draisaitl presently carries the eleventh highest cap hit in the NHL. He is on pace to score 78 points, which would essentially match his output from last year. But unlike last season in which he cashed in on a place in the top-ten NHL scoring leaderboard, he is currently on pace to end up somewhere on the bottom of the top-60. Oilers fans take solace is his production relative to last year, but in a new context he has clearly fallen well back from where he was projected to perform.
Will Draisaitl’s contract and performance serve as a cautionary tale?
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No. Go back a year with Gaudreau and Monahan. Gaudreau had his career lowest point total, and Monahan had less than 60 points. Yes Gaudreau was injured, but he struggled the first two months pre-injury. Many players struggle the first year after signing that first lucrative contract. Check out 02-03 Iginla...
If he is a winger scoring at this pace next year the Oilers might start to worry. But I doubt it affects contract values for teams that can actually appraise talent properly.
I so think that this will be Gaudreau's best point production season. He's the perfecthe age, no new contract pressure, and new enforcement of rules to benefit his style. Going to be fun to watch.