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Contract news took the hockey world by storm on Tuesday when Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl signed a new 8-year contract extension that will start during the 2025-26 season. This contract is worth $112 million and has a $14 million AAV, and will make him the highest paid player in the league when the extension takes effect.
The 28-year-old forward was seventh in the NHL last season in terms of points, scoring 106 total points including 41 goals through 81 regular season games. Since 2018, he is second in the entire league in points, just behind teammate Connor McDavid.
Draisaitl has emphasized his excitement for being an Oiler and has been talking about how much it means to him to play in Edmonton and for that fanbase. In an interview with the NHL, Draisaitl stated, “I take great pride in being an Oiler and always obviously wear my heart on my sleeve, but I love nothing more than wearing that jersey and representing our city and our great fans. I'm really, really excited and happy to hopefully be an Oiler for life” (Gerry Moddejonge, NHL.com).
Draisaitl also shared a post on Instagram that emphasized these feelings by posting photos featuring the fans of Oil Country in the background. He captioned this post, “Loyal to the OIL”.
The Edmonton Oilers have been severely lacking in depth over the past few seasons, but because of the duo between Draisaitl and McDavid, they have been extremely successful. They even made it to the Stanley Cup Final during the 2024-25 Stanley Cup Playoffs. If the Oilers want to extend this success as long as possible, extending and keeping Draisaitl with McDavid was a huge priority, and Oilers fans can relax going into Draisaitl’s last year on his old contract.
Draisaitl isn’t the only highly paid player in the league, and isn’t the only player who is considered vital to the success of his team. Let’s look at some other players with large contracts who are the highest paid players on their respective teams.
Tyler Seguin
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Tyler Seguin is one of the Dallas Stars’ most explosive forwards. The 32-year-old has been an alternate captain on the Stars since the 2016-17 season, and has proved his leadership both on and off the ice.
Seguin is currently going into year six of his eight-year contract with a $9.85 million AAV. This contract is currently the largest one out of all of the players on the Stars roster.
This past season, Seguin only played in 68 regular season games as he was nursing an injury throughout a large chunk of the season. Even though he played in fewer games than he would normally hope to, he was still able to rack up 52 total points, 25 of which were goals. During the 19 Stanley Cup Playoff games he appeared in, he managed to score 13 total points.
One of Seguin’s biggest attributes is that he is able to create space and plays whenever the team is struggling. He is able to provide that all important “spark” to his team when things are looking grim, which is such an important quality for any hockey player to have.
Because of his large contract and his long tenure on the Stars, there is always that expectation of Seguin to perform extremely well and add as much scoring as possible for his team. He has proved in the past that he is always up for the challenge, and he and his team are confident he can do it again this season.
David Pastrnak
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The Boston Bruins are one of the most historic and well-known NHL franchises. David Pastrnak certainly doesn’t take being one of their biggest stars lightly, and his skills on the ice has earned him a rather large contract.
As the highest paid player on the Boston Bruins, Pastrnak has a massive eight year, $11.25 million AAV contract that he is currently on his second year of. He is currently heading into his fourth season as an alternate captain for the Bruins.
The 28-year-old forward was able to play in all 82 regular season games during the 2023-24 season. He scored an astounding 110 points, 47 of which were goals. In the 13 playoff games that the Bruins played, he scored eight points.
Pastrnak is known for his shot and is extremely dangerous in the offensive zone. His shot is very accurate, making any shot that he takes a scoring risk. He compliments any player that he shares the ice with, making not only himself a solid offensive player, but helping anyone around him find scoring chances as well.
The Bruins have had two back-to-back extremely successful regular seasons, but have come up short in the playoffs time and time again. It is vital that Pastrnak continue to lead the team and create these scoring chances that he is known for if they want to continue to compete for the Stanley Cup for another season.
Auston Matthews
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One of the biggest stories during the offseason this summer was Toronto Maple Leafs captain John Tavares stepping down so that the team could name top scorer Auston Matthews captain. After wearing the “A” as an alternate captain for the team that drafted him for the past five seasons, the team finally decided that it was in their best interest to let their former first overall draft pick and top scorer take over as captain for the 2024-25 season.
Not only is Matthews their top scorer, he is also their highest paid player. Up until Draisaitl’s new extension, he was holding the spot for highest paid player in the entire National Hockey League. The 26-year-old forward is entering his first year of a four year contract worth $13.25 million AAV.
Matthews played 81 regular season games during the 2023-24 season and scored 107 points that includes an astounding 69 goals. The Leafs only played in five playoff games, but Matthews was able to score four points during these limited games.
The change of leadership to their top scorer who has proven that he can step up and score goals when the team needs it might just be the spark that the Toronto Maple Leafs need in order to take that next step and become a serious Stanley Cup Champion contender.
Matthews is one of the fastest skaters in the league and is so talented at creating plays that are extremely hard to defend. If the rest of the team can follow his lead, the Leafs might cause serious trouble for the rest of the league during the 2024-25 season.
Edited by Rachel Bowlin
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