Leon Draisaitl is staying in Edmonton.
The Edmonton Oilers and Draisaitl agreed to an eight-year, $112-million contract extension on Tuesday.
Draisaitl’s $14 million cap hit now passes Auston Matthews as the highest total in the NHL.
“This is a historic day for the Edmonton Oilers,” executive vice president of hockey operations and general manager Stan Bowman said in a statement. “Leon’s commitment to our team, our city and Oilers fans everywhere cannot be overstated. His desire to help bring a Stanley Cup title home to Edmonton is central to everything he does both on and off the ice.”
The deal keeps Draisaitl in Edmonton until the 2033-34 season. The centreman is coming off a 106-point regular season and a playoff run that ended in a heart-breaking Game 7 loss at the hands of the Florida Panthers.
Draisaitl was entering the final year of his eight-year, $68-million dollar deal that he signed in the summer of 2017. The 10-year veteran was slated to be an unrestricted free agent in the 2025 off-season.
Draisaitl’s teammate and reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner Connor McDavid is heading into the penultimate season of his own eight-year deal and is set to be a free agent in the summer of 2026.
Draisaitl has notched at least 100 points in five of his last six seasons, winning both the Hart Trophy and the Art Ross Trophy in 2019-20.
The Oilers selected the six-foot-two, 208-pound forward with the third-overall pick in the 2014 NHL Draft.