8 Biggest Contracts in Edmonton Oilers History – Hockey Writers – Oilers History
On Tuesday (Sept. 3) the Edmonton Oilers signed star forward Leon Draisaitl to an eight-year contract extension worth $112 million, with an average annual value (AAV) of $14 million. The extension will begin on July 1, 2025, when Draisaitl’s eight-year contract expires.
The contract has the highest AAV and the second-highest total value (behind only the 13-year, $124 million deal Alex Ovechkin signed with the Washington Capitals in 2008) in NHL history.
Draisaitl now has the largest contract ever signed by the Oilers, surpassing team captain Connor McDavid, who has two seasons left on his eight-year, $100 million deal.
Considering there was a time when Edmonton couldn’t even afford their top players, because the Oilers now have two homegrown stars with nine-figure deals it seems surreal.
However, since the NHL set the salary cap in 2005, the Oilers have now issued eight contracts worth at least $40 million. Here’s a look at them all:
Leon Draisaitl – $112 million
The Oilers avoided the 2024-25 risk of Draisaitl hitting free agency at the end of the season by inking the 28-year-old to a historic contract on Tuesday.
Related: Oilers’ Grading Monster Contract Extension for Leon Draisaitl
Draisaitl will be 37 when the deal expires in 2033, and if he stays with the Oilers for the duration of the contract, he will have spent 19 seasons in Edmonton. The current franchise record for most games played in at least one game is 15, shared by Kevin Lowe and Ryan Smyth.
Connor McDavid – $100 Million
Fresh off winning the Art Ross Trophy and the Hart Trophy, both for the first time, in 2016-17, McDavid signed an eight-year extension worth $100 million on July 5, 2017. At the time, he was the fifth player in NHL history to receive a nine-figure contract .
When the extension began the 2018-19 season, McDavid became the NHL’s highest-paid player based on AAV, at $12.5 million per season. He’s been passed over by Colorado Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon, whose latest contract carried an AAV of $12.6 million, and now Draisaitl.
Darnell Nurse – $74 million
On August 6, 2021, one season before he was eligible for free agency, Darnell Nurse signed an eight-year, $74 million contract on August 6, 2021, the largest contract Edmonton has ever offered to a defenseman.
The deal kicks off the 2022-23 season, making Nurse the seventh-highest paid player in the NHL based on AAV, at $9.25 million per season. He will be 35 when the contract expires in 2030.
Leon Draisaitl – $68 million
The 2017 offseason was a monumental one for the Oilers: just weeks after they locked up McDavid long-term, they did the same to Draisaitl, signing the restricted free agent to an eight-year, $68 million contract on August 16, 2017. The AAV of the $8.5 million contract was tied for 10th highest in the NHL in 2017-18.
Draisaitl was completely unproven at the time, with less than 200 regular-season NHL games under his belt and having scored at least 20 goals in a season just once. But he has delivered more than the contract, with five seasons of at least 105 points since 2018.
Taylor Hall – $42 million
On August 22, 2012, Taylor Hall became the first Oilers player to break the $40 million dollar barrier, signing a seven-year contract worth $42 million. The deal took effect on July 1, 2013, after his three-year entry-level contract expired.
Hall had four years remaining on his contract when the Oilers traded him to the New Jersey Devils for defenseman Adam Larsson on June 29, 2016. Larsson was entering the second season of a six-year, $25 million contract. Hall will win the Hart Trophy in 2018 as a member of the Devils.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – $42 million
Two years before he crossed the stage as the first pick in the 2011 NHL Draft, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins signed a seven-year contract worth $42 million on September 9, 2013. season.
Notably, the deal had an AAV of $6 million, which was exactly the same as Hall’s contract and the six-year, $36 million extension that was signed in 2012 by Jordan Eberle, thus ensuring that Edmonton’s three guns at the time were pieces . equal pay.
Milan Lucic – $42 million
Milan Lucic received what remains Edmonton’s largest free agent contract ever on July 1, 2016, when the big man left the Los Angeles Kings to sign a seven-year, $42 million contract with the Oilers.
Lucic, who had just turned 28 years old, was coming off his fourth career 20-goal season. But his offensive production dipped in Edmonton, coming off a six-goal 2018-19. On July 19, 2019, after just three seasons with the Oilers, he was dealt a conditional pick to the Calgary Flames for forward James Neal.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – $41 million
On June 29, 2021, Nugent-Hopkins re-signed with the Oilers, agreeing to an eight-year contract extension, that at $41 million and an AAV of $5.125 million is actually less expensive than the deal he signed back in 2012.
The deal, which includes a no-trade clause, expires after the 2028-29 season when Nugent-Hopkins turns 36. He is on pace to break the record for most seasons played in at least one game with the Oilers in 2026-27.
If all goes the way the Oilers and their fans hope, the next big contract Edmonton signs will be one in history. With McDavid’s current contract expiring after the 2025-26 season, the Oilers will look to extend him next summer, and the next contract he signs will undoubtedly be the largest in NHL history.
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