Quote:
Originally Posted by OldSam
I think the best buds have already made their decision. They are inseparable. It is silly to think this hasn't been discussed over and over. My guess is they are gone.
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My guess is that Draisaitl is only willing to sign a 1 year deal… that would take him to free agency with McDavid. The oilers would be terrified of that as a one year deal will immediately indicate to everyone that the wonder twins are gone in the summer of 2026. It will be pretty ridiculous for the oilers management or media mouthpieces to argue otherwise.
Draisaitl’s agent mentioned in early July that the ball is in their court… referring to the oilers management. If he was willing to sign anything with the oilers, you would think the oilers would put pen to paper. The only situation I could see that would be taking this long is if it is for a 1 year deal. But I bet it’s a “take it or leave it” from Draisaitl.
I bet the deal won’t be much of a discount but they might use performance bonuses that are guaranteed to be met in order to make them more cap flexible in 2025-2026. For example, I could see it being $10 million with a $3 to 4 million bonus for games played (something simple like 5 games). The oilers then get to defer that bonus cap hit ($3-4 million) by a year to the 2026-2027 season when they will be in a full rebuild anyways after McDavid and Draisaitl leave so they won’t care at that point about the cap.
Not sure if all of that is allowed under the CBA but we’ve seen that with other players on smaller contracts (eg. Brown).