Leon Draisaitl tried to keep his answers to a minimum when asked about his future with the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday.
Fresh off an oh-so-close Stanley Cup Final loss in Game 7, the Edmonton Oilers star told media at Rogers Place “it’s going to take a little bit of time to figure out” his future with the team.
It’ll hinge on conversations between his camp and the team. The Oilers are eligible to sign Draisaitl to a contract extension starting Monday.
“I’m going to sit down with my agent, talk to the Oilers and see what their plan is, see what our plan is and just go from there.”
The 28-year-old centreman, who was drafted by the Oilers in 2014 with the third overall draft pick, has one year left on a contract he signed in 2017 for $8.5 million a season.
Edmonton Oilers star Leon Draisaitl speaks during a press conference on June 26, 2024, at Edmonton’s Rogers Place. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press)Essentially, the Oilers are faced with one of three scenarios when it comes to Draisaitl before training camp opens in September:
- sign him to an extension that will likely see the German-born star — a former NHL scoring champion and most-valuable player — get a significant raise;
- if he says he wants to move on, trade him;
- let the contract run its course and allow him to leave as an unrestricted free agent.
Time is arguably of the essence for the second scenario as summer is usually the best time to put together a trade of the magnitude one involving Draisaitl would be.
Also complicating matters is the status of Oilers general manager Ken Holland, whose own contract expires Monday.
Draisaitl said he “loves being an Oiler more than anything” but that he needs to mull the situation.
“I’m well aware of what’s going on, but I haven’t spent much time thinking about what really are the facts and what I want to do, so I’ll just leave it at that,” he said.
“We’ll figure it out when we get there.”