There is no Leon Draisaitl without Connor McDavid, and there is no Connor McDavid without Leon Draisaitl.
The Dynamic Duo has taken the NHL by storm over the last decade, being among the league’s best scorers not only in the regular season, but in the playoffs, too, posting numbers few have seen before. They’ve been through the trials and tribulations of serious injuries, missed playoffs and deep runs that somehow felt like they ended too soon.
And for Draisaitl, who still has one year left on his previous contract, he hopes his new eight-year extension with the Oilers leads to McDavid signing a similar one next summer.
“Connor’s going to do what’s best for him, right?” he said on Tuesday when asked about his previous comments about each of them doing what’s best for themselves. “That’s just the way this works, and it’s supposed to work this way. I did what I felt was best for me personally.“Do I hope Connor follows along? I’d be lying if I said no. Of course I want him to stay on board, and i want all our pieces to stay on board.”
Oilers CEO Jeff Jackson said in late June that while both players are their own, especially in terms of being one year apart on their contracts aligning, he felt it was important to be able to have conversations with them both about what the future of the team looks like.
And there’s no denying that Draisaitl and McDavid had conversations between themselves, too.
“At the end of the day, I did what’s best for me — obviously having talked to him,” Draisaitl said. “We’ve had numerous conversations about it, but i’d be lying if i said i wouldn’t want him to stick around for a long time as well.”
Draisaitl’s new deal, paying him $ 14 million annually across eight bonus-laden years, will be the most expensive in the league when it takes effect in the 2025-26 season. McDavid’s? Well, he’ll likely topple that number, likely being around the $16 million mark, a number that Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli speculated on in June.
Time will tell, of course, but Oilers fans should feel confident in the Dynamic Duo being in Edmonton for many, many years to come.
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.
