Leon Draisaitl flirting with rival club amidst free agency rumours & during playoffs!
Could he make the move as early as this summer?
The Edmonton Oilers may be moving closer to the Stanley Cup Final, eliminating the Los Angeles Kings in the first round on Wednesday, but it sounds like star forward Leon Draisaitl could be moving on from the team. According to Jimmy Murphy of Boston Hockey Now, Georges Laraque reported on air of BPM Sports, a Montreal sports radio show that Draisaitl is interested in joining the Boston Bruins if he doesn’t re-sign with the Oilers.
“Someone well placed within the Oilers organization said that if the Oilers don’t go deep in the playoffs, he doesn’t see Draisaitl re-signing at the end of his deal and that he’d prefer to be a first-line center in Boston,” the former Oilers enforcer said, per Murphy.
Draisaitl is set to become an unrestricted free agent next July as he is about to enter the final season of an eight-year, $68 million ($8.5M AAV) contract.
It is of course expected that the Oilers’ star forward will become a hot topic in the rumor mill if he doesn’t sign a contract extension before next season, especially if Edmonton cannot win the Stanley Cup this time around.
There is however a huge possibility that Draisaitl decides to stay in Edmonton alongside captain Connor McDavid. It all depends on what happens with the Oilers in the coming weeks and if the club can reach an agreement on a new deal depending how on much Draisaitl is seeking from his current $8.5 million AAV.
The Bruins would however have to come up with a plan to get Draisaitl to fit under their cap as they couldn’t find a way to acquire tradeable assets to acquire Elias Lindholm or Noah Hanifin before the trade deadline. While the NHL’s cap is going up, Boston would still need to navigate many hurdles to sign Draisaitl on their top line in the near future as the Bruins have nearly $45 million invested in seven players for 2025-26. Therefore, Boston could wait until next summer to sign Draisaitl as a free agent as the salary cap could rise to over $92 million for that season and plenty of room would be available to sign Draisaitl for a long-term deal worth $15 million annually.
The Bruins will however need to consider captain Brad Marchand’ pending contract extension along with summer questions regarding goalie Jeremy Swayman and forward Jake DeBrusk.
While rumours suggest that the Bruins and Draisaitl could have mutual interest for one another, it may not be that easy to make it happen in the end. But this will be an interesting angle to follow in the coming seasons.
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