NHL Rumors: Edmonton Oilers, Leon Draisaitl, and the Boston Bruins

If Leon Draisaitl won’t sign an extension with the Edmonton Oilers, the Boston Bruins could be interested

Jimmy Murphy of Boston Hockey Now: A few weeks ago Georges Laraque said on 91.9 FM radio in Montreal that Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl would be interested in playing for the Boston Bruins if he didn’t re-sign with the Oilers.

Laraque said to BHN:

“Someone around the team told me that there’s a chance Leon doesn’t resign with the Oilers and the importance of this playoff run was huge for that regard then when we were talking about potential best fit I said Boston because they had no centers.”

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The Bruins could obviously use a first-line center like Draisaitl. He has one more year at $8.5 million. Another source wouldn’t say if Draisaitl will sign an extension with the Oilers but did say that Draisaitl and David Pastrnak have worked out together in Prague during the offseasons and have become friends.

There are a couple of UFA centers the Bruins could be interested in, or they could wait for potentially a bigger fish

Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic: The Boston Bruins have over $20 million in projected cap space, more if they trade goaltender Linus Ullmark. They need help at center.

They have room to sign pending UFAs in Elias Lindholm, Steven Stamkos or Max Domi if they hit the open market.

If the Bruins decide to wait a year, Leon Draisaitl could become available. If the Oilers want to keep Draisaitl, they may have to make him the highest-played player in the NHL, topping Auston Matthew’s $13.25 million.

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If the Oilers aren’t able to extend Draisaitl, they won’t want to lose him for nothing. The asking price would be huge and it may not be something the Bruins could match.