As former Edmonton Oilers general manager Craig MacTavish, who called Leon Draisaitl’s name third overall in the NHL draft ten years ago this summer — behind Sam Reinhart and ahead of Sam Bennett — mulls No. 29’s $112 million contract extension, let us roll back the time.
There’s no revisionist draft history with MacTavish, though.
He says the organization was torn, to a degree.
“We were pretty mixed on the discussions,” said MacTavish, who will be going into the Oilers Hall of Fame on Oct. 25 when the Pittsburgh Penguins are in town, along with Randy Gregg.
“Not just with Reinhart (he went No. 2 to Buffalo). Bennett was in there too because he had a lot of grit and there was a lot of talk about Bennett being like Doug Gilmour. You had to like Bennett’s grit and passion but Leon and Reinhart had much greater stick and playmaking skill.”
So they took Draisaitl over Bennett at No. 3, because?
“Bigger body and more stick skill. We needed size…the plusses far and away outweighed (Bennett),” said MacTavish.
As fate would have it, Bennett and Reinhart were on Florida’s Cup winner in Game 7 in late June, something Draisaitl aches for. But, there’s no denying No. 29’s resume—three 50-goal seasons, a Hart trophy, a scoring crown.
“Leon sees things on the ice that you don’t see from the press box. They see that third better play and you go ‘holy crap.’ Marc Savard had that, Gretz had that at a level never seen before. And Leon has that. Not many guys in my experience (1,093 games as a player, then coach, then GM) who see things I don’t from the pressbox,” said MacTavish.
How good would Draisaitl be if he was on his own team as the No. 1 centre?
“We’ve had stretches of it where Leon’s done that here. I don’t know if the productivity has dropped off much (Draisaitl had 12 points in 2019-20 when Connor McDavid missed six games with a quadriceps injury). Leon was the MVP of the league one year, wasn’t he? There’s your answer. He’s a generational talent with or without Connor,” said MacTavish.
“Obviously, neither would be as productive without the other (long-term) but they’re still massively productive,” said MacTavish.
“They help each other.”
Now Draisaitl will be making $14 million AAV, starting in 2025-2026. McDavid’s contract extension can start after next season. The most a player can make is 20 percent of the overall team cap, but if it’s $100 million by the time 97’s contract kicks in, then he should be $20 million. Next summer, Evan Bouchard needs a new contract, and it could start with a 10. So lots of high-end money and a major juggle on the overall team cap, but that’s the way it goes.
“I look at it as a good problem to have,” said MacTavish.
“When you have players of that quality it’s hard to call it a problem.”
Draisaitl could have gotten more on the open market as a UFA, but he’s in for the long haul. “It’s hard to turn away from $112 million. But Leon’s a smart guy. The only teams that have the flexibility (more AAV to add a guy with that payroll are teams that are going to lose for a while,” said MacTavish.
“He’s got a good thing going on here. We’re back to the mid-’80s here in terms of the attractiveness of the team, coming to Edmonton to play,” he said.
Now we’ll see what McDavid gets in a new deal.
“The cap will hopefully continue to go up to give the Oilers a bit of flexibility to build a team around them (Draisaitl, McDavid, Bouchard and Darnell Nurse at $9.25m). I don’t know what the cap will be (when 97’s extension kicks in), but you give Connor what he wants. If he wants 20 percent you give it to him. You hope he takes a bit of a discount but I still believe the star players in the NHL are underpaid relative to the rest of the (team) sports,” said MacTavish.
“When I retired in 1997, the top players were earning ten million dollars. That’s about 30 years, and it’s gone from $12 million to 13, and now 14 million.”
“How much would Connor be worth on the open market?” Fifty million? MacTavish remarked, “I’m sure someone would give him 50.”
This ‘n’ that
Surprising revelation in Dylan Holloway’s interview with Andy Strickland, the ace Blues’ podcaster, that the ex-Oilers winger’s wrist (two surgeries) allows him to play hockey but he says “I can’t do push-ups or bend it back.” Push-ups? No big deal. Gretzky could barely do any as an Oiler. He turned out OK…
Happy 81st birthday to the retired Glen Sather Sunday. Almost 50 years ago, on Sept. 10, 1976, Bep Guidolin signed the NHL winger Sather for the WHA Oilers. Six months later Sather was the head coach, with Bep, also the GM, stepping aside…
Defenceman Ty Emberson, acquired from San Jose for Cody Ceci, has to play 50 NHL games this season (regular-season and playoffs) or he’s UFA next summer…
Warren Foegele, signed to a three-year deal with Los Angeles, could be tried on a line with Quinton Byfield and Kevin Fiala in camp. Byfield and Foegele have worked out together for the last three years back in Ontario…
Long-time NHL assistant coach Perry Pearn on Mattias Janmark: “He reminds me of Shaun van Allen when I was with Ottawa. They (fans) kept saying Shaun couldn’t do this and couldn’t do that, but as coaches we loved him.” They loved his versatility, same with Janmark. The one-time Oiler draft pick Van Allen is the head coach at Carleton in Ottawa….”
Ex-Oilers winger Patrick Russell helped Denmark get into the 2026 Olympics in Milan with two goals in the recent qualifier against Norway. Russell, 31, has played the last three seasons in Linkopings, in Sweden…
Circle Dec. 7 on your Oiler calendar: that’s when Holloway and Broberg will be here with the St. Louis Blues. Holloway will wear 81 because Colton Parayko has dibs on 55, Holloway’s Oilers number. Broberg will be No. 6 for the Blues after wearing 86 here. That’s UFA Marco Scandella’s old number there.
