NHL Rumors: Edmonton Oilers – Trade Candidates, Leon Draisaitl, and Connor McDavid

Potential Oilers trade candidates, and Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid’s long-term future in Edmonton

Sportsnet: Mike Futa on the Jeff Marek Show with Mike Marchese on the Edmonton Oilers and Leon Draisaitl’s and the need to sign him to a contract extension. Marchese mentions a couple of Oilers who could be traded.

** NHLRumors.com transcription

Marchese: “The guy that seems to stand out with you know, they, they also brought back Adam Henrique, I forgot to mention him in there. The guy that seems to be the easiest one to move at this point is probably Ryan McLeod. I would assume that he’s the guy that is on his way out.

Evander Kane, I mean, the no-move clause does make that a little bit more difficult. I guess it all depends on what injury issues he has going on.

They still have to sign Dylan Holloway, who I thought was excellent in the playoffs for them. He showed a really physical side, which I don’t think a lot of people thought he had in him, but he was good. And they still have to re-up with Philip Broberg. So there’s some work to do there.

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But the biggest question surrounding the Oilers really is, is what does Leon Draisaitl do with an extension? Is he going to extend in Edmonton and if he decides not to, what is the course of action here because you don’t want to walk them to free agency but at the same time, you don’t want to lose Leon Draisaitl when you, when you’re within one goal of, of sending a Stanley Cup Final game seven to overtime.

Like, how do you think that the Oilers tread with this Leon Draisaitl thing, and do you think he ends up staying there? Because to me, that’s the biggest question of the offseason period. It doesn’t matter what team, it’s all across the league, is what does Leon Draisailt do and how does that affect what Connor McDavid does next offseason?

Futa: “I just, there’s always been, there’s, I just think he’s staying. I think there’s so much made when you know, you come up because obviously he was on such a team-friendly contract and, and clearly you look at him as being one of the elites of the elite in the league, and that’s going to come with a huge payday.

But I think with the cap going up, and in particular, the numbers that they retain some of these players out were excellent. I mean, I know people talk like last year Connor Brown had a $3 million bonus I believe or something that kicked in if you play a certain amount of games. So he all of a sudden quietly became a you know, he was much larger cap hit than it appeared at $1 million.

But at this, there’s some team-friendly deals there and I think you know, every little bit of money saved, I mean, the Jack Campbell buyout saves money. I just think when the time is right to make a deal, a deal will get done with Draisaitl and they’ll put it to bed.

And I think Connor McDavid will stay there as well. It’s, it’s a special, special hockey market. And again, there’s unfinished business. It’s again, like you got to remember Gretzky already had, you know, when Gretzky was moved to Los Angeles, I believe he already had four Stanley Cup rings or so. There was a lot that already been accomplished.

I think there’s a lot of pride in the fact, when you talk about Sidney Crosby being a Pittsburgh Penguin for life. And again, I mean, I would have said the same thing about Steven Stamkos being a Tampa Bay Lightning for life, but I just think that those two players are going to be long-term Edmonton Oilers.

And the, the passion, you know, when you talk about the pros and cons of certain markets and certain weathers, the passion of being an Oiler for life in that, in that city, which is just hockey-crazed. I think it’s just something that and they’re going to be good, right, and they’re going to be good as well.

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So I think they’re gonna stay long term and continue to build and, and once they get that first one, there’s a chance that that team’s got an opportunity to be a little bit of a dynasty for a while. They’re just that good. And when you get that close you know, I think, I just think there’s some special things that are gonna be happening over the next few years.”