Oilers, Draisaitl close to eight-year extension

It appears Leon Draisaitl will staying in Edmonton for the foreseeable future.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports the Oilers and Draisaitl are closing in on an eight-year extension for the star centre. He says the approximate average annual value of the deal will be $14 million, which would mark the highest total in the NHL.

Draisaitl 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 is entering the final year of his eight-year, $68-million dollar deal that he signed in the summer of 2017.

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.