Oilers have ‘nothing negative to report’ on contract talks with Draisaitl

EDMONTON -- Leon Draisaitl and the Edmonton Oilers have begun talks on a new contract, with the defending Western Conference champions hoping to lock up the superstar center long term.

“I had a good conversation (with Draisaitl’s agent Mike Liut) and we’re starting things off and the timing on that will be what it will be,” Oilers general manager Stan Bowman said Monday at the 2024 Gretzky Hlinka Cup at Rogers Place. “I don’t have an update of where it’s going to be or the timing on that, but there is nothing negative to report, certainly.”

The 28-year-old is entering the final season of an eight-year, $68-million contract ($8.5 million average annual value) he signed Aug. 16, 2017, and has been eligible to re-sign since July 1. Bowman said he wanted to make Draisaitl “an Oiler for life” when he was hired to replace Ken Holland as GM on July 24.

Bowman is aware of the importance of Draisaitl to Edmonton’s success. The Oilers reached Game 7 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final, a 2-1 loss to the Florida Panthers.

Draisaitl was seventh in the League last season with 106 points (41 goals, 65 assists) in 81 regular-season games. He finished third in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with 31 points (10 goals, 21 assists) in 25 games.

Bowman said future success will depend on getting Draisaitl to stay, and then signing captain Connor McDavid next offseason. McDavid has two seasons remaining on his eight-year, $100-million contract ($12.5 million AAV) he signed July 5, 2017. He is eligible to re-sign July 1, 2025.

“Leon is a super-talented player, a huge part of what we’re doing, and he has been and will be for some time and that hasn’t changed at all,” Bowman said. “I think it’s really hard to find stars in the NHL, so when you have them, the goal is to keep them.

“The same thing with Connor. Those guys are a huge reason the team’s had a successful run so far, and they will be a big part of the future too.”

As Chicago Blackhawks GM from July 2009 to October 2021, Bowman oversaw three Stanley Cup championship teams (2010, 2013, 2015) that were led by forwards Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.

“There are some similarities for sure; Kane and Toews were younger than Leon and Connor were, so they hit the ground running in their young years,” Bowman said. “Most of the success we had were their first five, six or seven years in the League. Where Connor and Leon are now, they’re more established in their careers, not just them, [Zach] Hyman and [Ryan] Nugent-Hopkins, you go down the list and there is some pretty good experience with this group.”

The Blackhawks were able to keep their championship window open for the better part of a decade, which is what the Oilers are hoping to do. They have reached the Western Conference Final twice in the past three seasons and have been eliminated in the playoffs by the past three champions -- the Colorado Avalanche in 2022, the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023 and the Panthers last season.

The key to keeping Edmonton’s window open as long as possible is re-signing Draisaitl and McDavid long term and surrounding them with a strong supporting cast. Before Bowman was hired, Edmonton reloaded for this season, re-signing several key role players and adding forwards Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner as unrestricted free agents.

McDavid won the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the playoffs with 42 points (eight goals, 34 assists) in 25 games. He ranked third in the regular season with 132 points (32 goals, 100 assists) in 76 games.

“They obviously came really close last season, so there’s not a lot of big changes that are necessary -- it’s more supporting the players that are here,” Bowman said. “You look at where we are right now with some of the other pieces, Arvidsson and Skinner are some real nice additions to the group. When you put that on top of bringing back some of the key players from this year’s team, the goal moving forward is to make sure we keep the players that integral to the success of the team.”

Bowman said it’s also crucial the Oilers don’t get caught up in previous success. He believes the challenges of the previous season will not necessarily be the same.

“I fell into that trap (in Chicago),” Bowman said. “Everyone figures that here is this year’s team, so next year we have to fix this one little area and then we’ll win. What ends up happening a lot of times, just the way sports goes, what was really successful last year isn’t necessarily going to pick up where you left off and be better next year.”

Edmonton went through its share of challenges last season, falling to a tie for last place in the NHL standings with a 2-9-1 start, which led to the firing of coach Jay Woodcroft on Nov. 12. He was replaced by Kris Knoblauch.

The Oilers rebounded and finished 49-27-6, second in the Pacific Division, and eliminated the Los Angeles Kings, Vancouver Canucks and Dallas Stars in the playoffs on the road to the Cup Final against the Panthers. Edmonton lost the first three games of the best-of-7 series before forcing Game 7 at Florida.

“They came up one game short, but it’s a new year,” Bowman said. “One of the things I tried to communicate was that last year was last year, and as much as it was a great run and there’s a lot of interest in looking back at what was a great season, I think it’s important to look forward and how this group is going to come together next season. We have some new pieces, and you don’t know what next year’s team is going to look like.”