Quote:
Originally Posted by keenan87
As much as I would have loved to see these two leave Edmonton, it is nice to know there are still star players that want to play in small markets within Canada.
Hopefully Calgary can have the same luck in the future.
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I think it once again just highlights the key is locking them up early if you want to stay in Canada.
Draisaitl has been treated very well by Edmonton.
He got 8 x $8.5M at a time when people thought it was an overpayment, and then he end up out performing that contract.
And now a year out from UFA the Oilers offered him the biggest 8 year contract in NHL history, the largest AAV in NHL history, and the second biggest ever in terms of total $$$ value.
New Arena, Stanley Cup Finalist, and huge contract. Really not that much of a reason to leave, and if he really wants to he can just ask for a trade in the future.
The kicker though is unlike Florida/Tampa where players will take a discount to stay, in Canada it appears you have to always pay market value or overpay early, which makes it tougher to build a winner. Oilers are going to be able to keep some of these guys, but as of yet it hasn't guaranteed a winner.