If so, stupid they didn't send him to wjcs
I don't necessarily believe this is true. there are a couple things at play here.
1. In order to not count as an RFA year, Draisaitl would have to be assigned to the CHL before Edmonton's 40th game. That 40th game happens during the WJHC relegation/medal round.
2. In order to be in the situation that everyone wanted, his WHL rights had to be traded.
3. There is a CHL trade freeze for players participating in the WJHC.
So, in order for all those stars to align, Leon would have either been assigned to junior before the tournament, thereby giving up 2 weeks of a pro-rated $925,000 in favor of somewhere around $36K for the rest of the year (pro-rated portion of the AHL salary in his 2-way ELC). So maybe he didn't want that option. Add to that the fact that he would have been sent to PA (a team he'd publicly stated he doesn't want to re-join) instead of Kelowna, and there's more incentive to want to sit tight in Edmonton.
This way, he gets paid, gets a few more NHL minutes, and gets traded to the WHL team he wants before being reassigned. Seems like a win-win.
It would be his second or third go-round at the WJHC. Maybe he figured that if he's going to play for a losing team for a couple weeks, he may as well get himself paid. While it's small potatoes in a multi-billion dollar industry, it's probably quite a chunk of change for a kid getting his first taste of pro athlete money/lifestyle. Keep in mind 2 weeks worth of $925K is roughly the same as 50% of his non-NHL salary for the rest of the year (somewhere around $35-36K). So in effect, not going to the WJHC may have actually doubled the amount of money he makes between now and the end of the season.
Then again, maybe the Edmonton braintrust messed up the situation beyond belief too. I'm just not jumping on the "ridiculous decision" bandwagon, as there is a very plausible explanation as to why this might have been the best way to keep a future star happy.
