Sportsnet: Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli prepared to match any offer sheet on Leon Draisaitl

[2020 Cup Champions]

So, what's the offer from a team like Tampa? And given their current cap situation, how do they bring on either player?

Not that I think Yzerman would start the offer sheet wars, but we have 20 million dollars in capspace and there are at least a couple of teams that should be more than happy to shoulder the burden of taking on Tyler Johnson and signing him.

 

[ohmyjlord]

We don't know that they don't have a deal already done, and are just waiting on July 1st so that it can be announced with the Connor McDavid deal.

Why would he say that he's willing to match any offer sent his way, then ? Just to troll the other GMs ?

I think we've officially crossed the line into wishful thinking now.

 

[Mr Positive]

Why would he say that he's willing to match any offer sent his way, then ? Just to troll the other GMs ?

I think we've officially crossed the line into wishful thinking now.

well for starters he'd said he'd do those two deals before anything else, and I doubt he'd give Russell 4 million without knowing he even had that money down the line.

Also, he never went out of his way to say he'd match. People are asking, and he's answering.

But it is just weird. Why wait till McDavid can sign to sign Drai? Show of force? To make it an event? lol, something is a bit fish imo. We're keeping Drai though.

 

[CrypTic]

well for starters he'd said he'd do those two deals before anything else, and I doubt he'd give Russell 4 million without knowing he even had that money down the line.

Also, he never went out of his way to say he'd match. People are asking, and he's answering.

But it is just weird. Why wait till McDavid can sign to sign Drai? Show of force? To make it an event? lol, something is a bit fish imo. We're keeping Drai though.

Still, it makes no sense to say he's willing to match any offer if he's already signed. I get why he answered the question. It's not as bad as it sounds at 1st bc it's not like he said it unprompted, which would have been really dumb. But if Drai were already signed he could just say something like he's confident that Drai will be an Oiler.

 

[ohmyjlord]

well for starters he'd said he'd do those two deals before anything else, and I doubt he'd give Russell 4 million without knowing he even had that money down the line.

Also, he never went out of his way to say he'd match. People are asking, and he's answering.

But it is just weird. Why wait till McDavid can sign to sign Drai? Show of force? To make it an event? lol, something is a bit fish imo. We're keeping Drai though.

I don't think Russell's $4.0m is handcuffing the Oilers than bad honestly. Not sure this has anything to do with anything.

I get that he never went 'out of his way' to say it. But he also has nothing to gain by holding on to the news that Draisaitl has been re-signed. Why would the Oilers do such a thing to their fans ? If there was a deal in place, it would've been announced. I don't see any reason why he wouldn't do it.

 

[Johnnybegood13]

If I'm Draisaitl or his agent I'm waiting if I can to see McDavids contract, one less goal in the regular season and out performed Connor 2 to 1 in the playoffs should be worth something very lucrative. Almost the Malkin scenario

If I had to guess, Chiarelli is at an impasse in negotiations for him to say such a thing, wishful thinking panic mode even.

 

[Sharppi]

Oh the things I would give for Draisatl.

 

[Legobbles]

Someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but a team that would wish to offersheet a player can offer the max of 7 years. However, the AAV is based on 5, so if Player A signed a 7x7 offersheet, Player A will be with his new team for 7 years, but when looking at compensation, the contract would be treated as being over $9,388,080 AAV, 7x7 would be $9,800,000 based on 5 years, which would garner the team Player A left four 1st round draft picks.

If this is correct, and it seems to be, a team would have to put themselves in cap hell just to make a somewhat competitive OS for more than 5 years. And if you're going to do less than the max of 7, what's the point? That's just a very pricey rental. Any reasonable offer that EDM makes to Draisaitl would be more attractive than a 7 year OS. If he did sign one for 5 years at 10 per and it wasn't matched, what's to keep him from being the same mercenary when that contract ends???

Futile exercise if you're a rival GM. Especially when you then consider the picks and the requirement to be a contender (to make use of it) and have plenty of cap space.

 

[WesMcCauley]

A team has to offersheet Drai. Getting a young #1C is extremely valuable in todays NHL. If he doesnt sign atleast you have raised the price and made it harder for Edm to compete with both Drai and Mcdavid locked up on big contracts early.

 

[MAHJ71]

The problem is who signs to play in Vegas for 7 years on a struggling team?

Someone who would rather swim in money every second of the day instead of win actual games.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Heh, delusional Oiler fans thinking Connor is going to sign for a huge discount should be changing their tune now.

 

[When is the Parade]

An offersheet of that value to Draisaitl and it cripples the Oilers. Between McDavid's rumored deal of $13.5 million, and Draisaitl at $9.5 million, that is $23 million, or almost a third of the salary structure on two forwards. Add in Really Nothing Happens at $6 million, Lucic at $6 million, and Pouliot at $4 million, and you've eaten up almost $40 million for less than two lines. As a whole, with those two salaries on the books, the Oilers are heading into 2018-19 with $64.5 million on the books for just 13 players. They need to fill out the rest of the roster (minimum five forwards, two defensemen, and a goaltender) on $10 million. Their window to win is this winter, because after this, they are not going to have the depth to compete.

 

[BruinLVGA]

If McDavid signs at 13.5, someone with cap space and family jewels should indeed offer sheet Draisaitl. It would be interesting to see Chiarelli put in a less than ideal cap situation.

 

[Kanye]

Heh, delusional Oiler fans thinking Connor is going to sign for a huge discount should be changing their tune now.

"If he was smart and wants to win he'll sign a 9.7 million deal and help the team!"



Good thing Russell is locked up for 4 more years.

 

[HawksFan37]

Thing with offer sheets is that the player has to actually sign it, so it has to make a lot of sense from their perspective.

To me, the magic structure of the offer sheet would be $9.8M for 4 years (maybe he's willing to give up one UFA year and you can get a 5 year term). Contract expires right as Leon's UFA years start which would greatly appeal to him, and the team signing him doesn't give up 4 first rounders, but only 2 firsts, a second and a third.

 

[liquiduck]

An offersheet of that value to Draisaitl and it cripples the Oilers. Between McDavid's rumored deal of $13.5 million, and Draisaitl at $9.5 million, that is $23 million, or almost a third of the salary structure on two forwards. Add in Really Nothing Happens at $6 million, Lucic at $6 million, and Pouliot at $4 million, and you've eaten up almost $40 million for less than two lines. As a whole, with those two salaries on the books, the Oilers are heading into 2018-19 with $64.5 million on the books for just 13 players. They need to fill out the rest of the roster (minimum five forwards, two defensemen, and a goaltender) on $10 million. Their window to win is this winter, because after this, they are not going to have the depth to compete.

Or they just have to start moving players like RNH/ Lucic and replace them with cheaper options.

Even if you have to sell on them cheap, or give up assets with them. That was always the reality.

Their cup window, assuming they sign Drai is going to be as long as McDavid is signed for.

 

[D0ctorCool]

Thing with offer sheets is that the player has to actually sign it, so it has to make a lot of sense from their perspective.

To me, the magic structure of the offer sheet would be $9.8M for 4 years (maybe he's willing to give up one UFA year and you can get a 5 year term). Contract expires right as Leon's UFA years start which would greatly appeal to him, and the team signing him doesn't give up 4 first rounders, but only 2 firsts, a second and a third.

That's actually pretty reasonable. A team like Columbus should be all over that.

 

[Cubs2024WSChamps]

Teams gotta offer sheet him now.

Any team with cap needs to throw a huge OS at him and bury the Oilers cap. Gotta do it now.

I love this. This is what happens when you give huge contracts to players who haven't done anything to deserve it. You give them blank checks AFTER they bring you a Cup.

This is hilarious

 

[CrypTic]

If this is correct, and it seems to be, a team would have to put themselves in cap hell just to make a somewhat competitive OS for more than 5 years.

That is how compensation is calculated for a term of five years or more. For five years or under, you use the number of actual years to calculate the AAV. But that's just the AAV for draft pick compensation, not the AAV you use to calculate the team's cap. This calculation has no effect on how you calculate a team's cap.

And if you're going to do less than the max of 7, what's the point? That's just a very pricey rental. Any reasonable offer that EDM makes to Draisaitl would be more attractive than a 7 year OS. If he did sign one for 5 years at 10 per and it wasn't matched, what's to keep him from being the same mercenary when that contract ends???

Futile exercise if you're a rival GM. Especially when you then consider the picks and the requirement to be a contender (to make use of it) and have plenty of cap space.

Maybe Draiaitl wants a 4-year deal so that he can be a UFA sooner. I'd guess that most GMs think that they'd be able to re-sign him in four years. And statistically, they're right. Most players re-sign with their team. If Drai pans out, he'd be the 1C on most teams and you do what you have to do to keep your 1C so even an offer of four years would likely turn out to be longer.

I'd like Doug Wilson to do it bc we need a 1C and, given Hasso Plattner's desire to have the team make money every year and our market, DW will try to get into the playoffs every year. That seems to be the directive from HP. We are probably not going to be drafting high and we aren't good at drafting in the 1st three rounds anyway. So I don't care about the draft picks. If Edmonton matches, they'll have cap problems. Since they're in our division, that's a plus too.

I don't think that DW will offersheet Drai but it's possible. He offersheeted Hjalmarsson.

 

[When is the Parade]

Their cup window, assuming they sign Drai is going to be as long as McDavid is signed for.

Yeah, not it isn't. Hockey is a team sport and you need other players to support the superstar. Winning a Stanley Cup is a war of attrition and without depth you aren't going to get very far. A team of two or three top end talents, and a bunch of cannon fodder, is not going anywhere. Unless they are finding ways of bringing in cheap top end talent to support those star players, the result is always predictable.

 

[greengoblin]

Heh, delusional Oiler fans thinking Connor is going to sign for a huge discount should be changing their tune now.

lol. Pretty much. It starts with their media as well. Mark Spector was on Calgary radio a few weeks ago and said McDavid was going to sign for $10m because he loves the Oilers and the city. Didn't want to put them in cap hell. Good reporting Spector!!

 

[Kale Hulls]

If McDavid gets 13M+ and Draisaitl gets on offersheet @ 9M+ how does Chiarelli keep both?

 

[Plub]

I'd offer 10 mill over 7 years. Without a doubt.

 

[McFlyingV]

If McDavid gets 13M+ and Draisaitl gets on offersheet @ 9M+ how does Chiarelli keep both?

Pretty easy. Dump Nuge, Pouliot, and Fayne off the books by 2018-19 season.

 

[bam09]

It's too bad the Yotes don't have a pot to **** in, they'd be able to hamstrung a division rival for near a decade.