Oilers insider says Draisaitl may not be open to long term contract in Edmonton

Draisaitl may not be looking to sign an eight year contract as has become expected of NHL stars. Like Auston Matthews, Draisaitl would be smart to sign a shorter term deal at a high salary, and look to cash in on another long term contract in a few years time. Based on this report, Draisaitl would sign for 4 years for near $14M.

Spector still says Draisaitl staying in Edmonton is practically a guarantee, just like Frank Seravalli reported on OilersNow last week. Seravalli also speculated that Draisaitl would reach at least $14M in salary, but Stauffer suggested that Draisaitl is in fact looking for an eight year deal.

When a player of Draisaitl's caliber is nearing free agency, rumours of plenty of teams being interested will pop up - and that's certainly been the case with Leon. The Boston Bruins, San Jose Sharks, and Los Angeles Kings to name a few have been linked to being strongly interested in Draisaitl. It'll be best for the Oilers organization to get his contract done early this offseason, and not let it hang over the beginning of next year at all.

Multiple insiders have also said that Draisaitl's signing with Edmonton will be a harbinger of McDavid's signing as well - when either happens, it'll be a joy to the city of Edmonton.

Source: Mark Spector