<p>The Edmonton Oilers have never had a superstar player commit long-term to the franchise during the peak of their career. Wayne Gretzky signed a 21-year personal services contract with Peter Pocklington and the Oilers in January of 1979, but the Oilers were still in the WHA, and Gretzky was traded 9.5 years later when he was 27. Paul Coffey was 25 when he was traded to Pittsburgh. Grant Fuhr was 28 when he was dealt to Toronto. Mark Messier was moved when he was 30. Jari Kurri was also 30 when he played his final game with Edmonton. Glenn Anderson was traded when he was 30, but he returned to play 17 games for the Oilers when he was 36.</p>
<p></p>
<p>For decades, the Oilers and their fans witnessed superstars leave, often in their prime, but that changed yesterday when Draisaitl said,  “I think as a young kid, as an 18-year-old kid, you start to really love being with a team, especially the team that drafted you. You develop a love for that team. For me, it was always the Oilers.”</p>
<p>Draisaitl was drafted third overall in the 2014 NHL entry draft by Edmonton. A decade later, he signed an eight-year extension that ended on June 30th, 2033. His contract doesn&#8217;t guarantee he will play his entire career in Edmonton, very few players in NHL history have, but he will be the first superstar to remain with the organization in his early 30s.</p>
<p>Only 34 players in NHL history have played over 1,000 games, and only for one organization. Nicklas Lidstrom tops that list with 1,564 games with Detroit, and 15 of those 34 are in the Hockey Hall of Fame in: Lidstrom, Alex Delvecchio, Steve Yzerman, Stan Mikita, Joe Sakic, Henrik and Daniel Sedin, Henri Richard, Gilbert Perreault, George Armstrong, Bob Gainey, Bobby Clarke, Jean Beliveau, Rod Gilbert and Denis Potvin. Patrice Bergeron will join that list when he&#8217;s eligible while Ryan Getzlaf also has a chance.</p>
<p>Draisaitl opting to commit to the Oilers and the fans is a big deal for the city. For decades Oilers fans had to hear the catcalls about players not wanting to stay in Edmonton, but that lame notion was put to rest yesterday. Draisaitl, a kid from Cologne, Germany, fell in love with his teammates, the fans and the city and opted to remain in Edmonton rather than test the free agent market next summer. That is a big deal, and this scenario will be repeated next summer when Connor McDavid signs his extension. Don&#8217;t fret Oilersnation. It will happen.</p>
<p>Draisaitl&#8217;s extension means the Oilers should be a Stanley Cup contender for years to come. Yes, his $14m cap hit makes it a bit of a challenge for GM Stan Bowman to fill out the Oilers roster, but it is much easier finding good complementary players than it is finding a superstar.</p>
<p>In the last eight seasons only 22 players have scored 100 points in a season, but only eight have done it multiple times.</p>
<p>McDavid has seven 100-point seasons. Draisaitl has five. Nikita Kucherov has four while Nathan MacKinnon, Auston Matthews, David Pastrnak, Mikko Rantanen and Matthew Tkachuk have two. I think some people in Edmonton underestimate how difficult it is to consistently produce 100 points, because Draisaitl and McDavid have done it so often.</p>
<p>McDavid is currently tied for 4th all-time with seven 100-point seasons. Marcel Dionne (8), Mario Lemieux (10) and Wayne Gretzky (15) are the only ones with more. McDavid will likely tie Dionne this season.</p>
<p>Draisaitl is tied for 17th with five, and next season he should move into a tie for 7th place with Sidney Crosby, Phil Esposito, Dale Hawerchuk, Jari Kurri, Guy Lafleur, Mark Messier, Bobby Orr, Joe Sakic, Bryan Trottier, and Steve Yzerman with six 100-point seasons. Draisaitl will be among the greatest to ever play, and if he has two more 100-point seasons he will be one of only seven players to do it seven times. It is truly remarkable what he has achieved thus far in his career.</p>
<p>He&#8217;s proven he can produce when the games are more meaningful and difficult. He is already 89th in career playoff points with 108, despite being tied for 747th in games played with 74. His 1.46 points/game in the playoffs is 4th best among players with 35+ games played behind McDavid (1.58), Lemieux (1.61) and Gretzky (1.84).</p>
<h2><strong>WILL HE AGE WELL?</strong></h2>
<figure id="attachment_159142" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-159142" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-159142 size-large" src="http://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/USATSI_23609635-1024x683.jpg" alt="Edmonton Oilers Leon Draisaitl" width="1024" height="683" srcset="https://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/USATSI_23609635-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/USATSI_23609635-300x200.jpg 300w, https://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/USATSI_23609635-768x512.jpg 768w, https://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/USATSI_23609635-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/USATSI_23609635-2048x1366.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-159142" class="wp-caption-text">Jun 21, 2024; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl (29) during the warmup period against the Florida Panthers in game six of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Place.</figcaption></figure>
<p>Within hours of the contract being announced, some wondered how the contract would age. Draisaitl will be 29 at the start of next season, but he will turn 30 on October 27th. Next year will be his 30-year-old season in the NHL and he will turn 37 in the final year of his deal. The most recent superstar who signed an eight-year extension and finished it was Patrick Kane.</p>
<p>Kane signed his eight-year, $10.5m deal on July 9th, 2014. The contract began the following season in 2015-16. For the eight years of that contract, Kane produced the third most points in the NHL with 680. Only Draisaitl (735) and McDavid (850) produced more. Granted Kane started that contract when he was 27, and three years younger than Draisaitl, so Draisaitl likely won&#8217;t finish with the third most points during his eight-year contract.</p>
<p>From age 28-35, Kane was 10th in the NHL in scoring, but keep in mind Kane had never had a 100-point season when he signed his eight-year deal. He was a very dynamic player, and is also a future Hall of Famer, but to date he&#8217;s only had two 100-point seasons, and they came when he was 27 and 30. Draisaitl will likely have six 100-point seasons before he turns 30.</p>
<p>Gordie Howe holds the NHL record for oldest player to score 100 points. He was 40 years old when the 1968-69 season began and he turned 41 in March of 1969.</p>
<p>Joe Sakic was 37 when he tallied his sixth 100-point season in 2007.</p>
<p>Johnny Bucyk was 35 when he scored 51 goals and 116 points in 1971.</p>
<p>Jean Ratelle was also 35 when he scored 105 points in 1976.</p>
<p>Gretzky was 35 when he tallied his final season of 100 points producing 102 points in 1996. He was fifth in league scoring the following year with 97 points, then was fourth in 1998 at the age of 37 with 90 points.</p>
<p>Dionne (33), Jaromir Jagr (33), Daniel Alfredsson (32), Phil Esposito (32) and Ron Francis (32) also produced 100-point seasons at the age of 32 or older.</p>
<p>The past two seasons at age 35 and 36 Sidney Crosby has scored 93 and 94 points and he finished 16th and 12th in scoring those two seasons. In 2023 the NHL had 19 players score 90+ points and last season only 17 reached that mark.</p>
<p>Truly elite players, which Draisaitl is, are producing longer into their careers than even before due to the advancements in nutrition, sleep, rest, training and body maintenance. I&#8217;d be shocked if Draisaitl had a major dip in his production in the first six years of his contract.</p>
<p>The past six seasons he&#8217;s been incredibly consistent. He&#8217;s produced 105 points, 110, 123 (prorated as he had 84 in shortened 56-game season), 110, 128 and 106. He scored 50 goals three times the past six seasons and Auston Matthews (2x) and Alex Ovechkin (2x) are the only other players to have multiple 50-goal seasons during that span.</p>
<p>The Draisaitl extension is the most significant signing in franchise history in regard to ensuring the long-term competitiveness of the organization.</p>
<h2><strong>PRESENTED BY bet365</strong></h2>
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The Edmonton Oilers have never had a superstar player commit long-term to the franchise during the peak of their career. Wayne Gretzky signed a 21-year personal services contract with Peter Pocklington and the Oilers in January of 1979, but the Oilers were still in the WHA, and Gretzky was traded 9.5 years later when he was 27. Paul Coffey was 25 when he was traded to Pittsburgh. Grant Fuhr was 28 when he was dealt to Toronto. Mark Messier was moved when he was 30. Jari Kurri was also 30 when he played his final game with Edmonton. Glenn Anderson was traded when he was 30, but he returned to play 17 games for the Oilers when he was 36.



For decades, the Oilers and their fans witnessed superstars leave, often in their prime, but that changed yesterday when Draisaitl said,  “I think as a young kid, as an 18-year-old kid, you start to really love being with a team, especially the team that drafted you. You develop a love for that team. For me, it was always the Oilers.”

Draisaitl was drafted third overall in the 2014 NHL entry draft by Edmonton. A decade later, he signed an eight-year extension that ended on June 30th, 2033. His contract doesn't guarantee he will play his entire career in Edmonton, very few players in NHL history have, but he will be the first superstar to remain with the organization in his early 30s.

Only 34 players in NHL history have played over 1,000 games, and only for one organization. Nicklas Lidstrom tops that list with 1,564 games with Detroit, and 15 of those 34 are in the Hockey Hall of Fame in: Lidstrom, Alex Delvecchio, Steve Yzerman, Stan Mikita, Joe Sakic, Henrik and Daniel Sedin, Henri Richard, Gilbert Perreault, George Armstrong, Bob Gainey, Bobby Clarke, Jean Beliveau, Rod Gilbert and Denis Potvin. Patrice Bergeron will join that list when he's eligible while Ryan Getzlaf also has a chance.

Draisaitl opting to commit to the Oilers and the fans is a big deal for the city. For decades Oilers fans had to hear the catcalls about players not wanting to stay in Edmonton, but that lame notion was put to rest yesterday. Draisaitl, a kid from Cologne, Germany, fell in love with his teammates, the fans and the city and opted to remain in Edmonton rather than test the free agent market next summer. That is a big deal, and this scenario will be repeated next summer when Connor McDavid signs his extension. Don't fret Oilersnation. It will happen.

Draisaitl's extension means the Oilers should be a Stanley Cup contender for years to come. Yes, his $14m cap hit makes it a bit of a challenge for GM Stan Bowman to fill out the Oilers roster, but it is much easier finding good complementary players than it is finding a superstar.

In the last eight seasons only 22 players have scored 100 points in a season, but only eight have done it multiple times.

McDavid has seven 100-point seasons. Draisaitl has five. Nikita Kucherov has four while Nathan MacKinnon, Auston Matthews, David Pastrnak, Mikko Rantanen and Matthew Tkachuk have two. I think some people in Edmonton underestimate how difficult it is to consistently produce 100 points, because Draisaitl and McDavid have done it so often.

McDavid is currently tied for 4th all-time with seven 100-point seasons. Marcel Dionne (8), Mario Lemieux (10) and Wayne Gretzky (15) are the only ones with more. McDavid will likely tie Dionne this season.

Draisaitl is tied for 17th with five, and next season he should move into a tie for 7th place with Sidney Crosby, Phil Esposito, Dale Hawerchuk, Jari Kurri, Guy Lafleur, Mark Messier, Bobby Orr, Joe Sakic, Bryan Trottier, and Steve Yzerman with six 100-point seasons. Draisaitl will be among the greatest to ever play, and if he has two more 100-point seasons he will be one of only seven players to do it seven times. It is truly remarkable what he has achieved thus far in his career.

He's proven he can produce when the games are more meaningful and difficult. He is already 89th in career playoff points with 108, despite being tied for 747th in games played with 74. His 1.46 points/game in the playoffs is 4th best among players with 35+ games played behind McDavid (1.58), Lemieux (1.61) and Gretzky (1.84).
<h2><strong>WILL HE AGE WELL?</strong></h2>
[caption id="attachment_159142" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]<img class="wp-image-159142 size-large" src="http://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/USATSI_23609635-1024x683.jpg" alt="Edmonton Oilers Leon Draisaitl" width="1024" height="683" /> Jun 21, 2024; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl (29) during the warmup period against the Florida Panthers in game six of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Place.[/caption]

Within hours of the contract being announced, some wondered how the contract would age. Draisaitl will be 29 at the start of next season, but he will turn 30 on October 27th. Next year will be his 30-year-old season in the NHL and he will turn 37 in the final year of his deal. The most recent superstar who signed an eight-year extension and finished it was Patrick Kane.

Kane signed his eight-year, $10.5m deal on July 9th, 2014. The contract began the following season in 2015-16. For the eight years of that contract, Kane produced the third most points in the NHL with 680. Only Draisaitl (735) and McDavid (850) produced more. Granted Kane started that contract when he was 27, and three years younger than Draisaitl, so Draisaitl likely won't finish with the third most points during his eight-year contract.

From age 28-35, Kane was 10th in the NHL in scoring, but keep in mind Kane had never had a 100-point season when he signed his eight-year deal. He was a very dynamic player, and is also a future Hall of Famer, but to date he's only had two 100-point seasons, and they came when he was 27 and 30. Draisaitl will likely have six 100-point seasons before he turns 30.

Gordie Howe holds the NHL record for oldest player to score 100 points. He was 40 years old when the 1968-69 season began and he turned 41 in March of 1969.

Joe Sakic was 37 when he tallied his sixth 100-point season in 2007.

Johnny Bucyk was 35 when he scored 51 goals and 116 points in 1971.

Jean Ratelle was also 35 when he scored 105 points in 1976.

Gretzky was 35 when he tallied his final season of 100 points producing 102 points in 1996. He was fifth in league scoring the following year with 97 points, then was fourth in 1998 at the age of 37 with 90 points.

Dionne (33), Jaromir Jagr (33), Daniel Alfredsson (32), Phil Esposito (32) and Ron Francis (32) also produced 100-point seasons at the age of 32 or older.

The past two seasons at age 35 and 36 Sidney Crosby has scored 93 and 94 points and he finished 16th and 12th in scoring those two seasons. In 2023 the NHL had 19 players score 90+ points and last season only 17 reached that mark.

Truly elite players, which Draisaitl is, are producing longer into their careers than even before due to the advancements in nutrition, sleep, rest, training and body maintenance. I'd be shocked if Draisaitl had a major dip in his production in the first six years of his contract.

The past six seasons he's been incredibly consistent. He's produced 105 points, 110, 123 (prorated as he had 84 in shortened 56-game season), 110, 128 and 106. He scored 50 goals three times the past six seasons and Auston Matthews (2x) and Alex Ovechkin (2x) are the only other players to have multiple 50-goal seasons during that span.

The Draisaitl extension is the most significant signing in franchise history in regard to ensuring the long-term competitiveness of the organization.
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Leon Draisaitl’s extension is a first for the Oilers

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