Current:Home > NewsOilers' Leon Draisaitl becomes highest-paid NHL player with $112 million deal -WealthX
Oilers' Leon Draisaitl becomes highest-paid NHL player with $112 million deal
View
Date:2025-04-14 10:31:35
The National Hockey League will have a new highest-paid player for three seasons in a row.
Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl agreed to an eight-year, $112 million extension on Tuesday that will give him a $14 million cap hit when the deal kicks in during the 2025-26 season. That will move him past Auston Matthews' four-year, $53 million contract ($13.25 million cap hit) that takes effect this season.
Matthews' deal surpassed Colorado Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon's $12.6 million cap hit, which took effect last season. Before that, Oilers star Connor McDavid ($12.5 million) had the top average annual salary.
Draisaitl was considered vastly underpaid in his current contract, which averages $8.5 million and expires this season.
Draisaitl, 28, the No. 3 overall pick of the 2014 draft, has the second-most points in the NHL since he became a regular in the 2015-16 season. His 841 points trail only McDavid (982). His 145 power-play goals leads all scorers during that time.
All things Oilers: Latest Edmonton Oilers news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.
In the playoffs, his 1.46 points per game is second behind McDavid's 1.58.
Draisaitl was voted the Hart Trophy as MVP to his team in 2019-20 and helped the Oilers reach Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final last season.
New general manager Stan Bowman said after his July hiring that signing Draisaitl was his top priority. He had to delay when the St. Louis Blues made offer sheets to forward Dylan Holloway and defenseman Philip Broberg. Bowman ended up not matching the offers and letting those players go.
McDavid's contract runs out after the 2025-26 season and he almost certainly would pass Draisaitl's figure in his next deal.
The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast.Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
veryGood! (3232)
Related
- Tarte Shape Tape Concealer Sells Once Every 4 Seconds: Get 50% Off Before It's Gone
- Videos show 'elite' Louisville police unit tossing drinks on unsuspecting pedestrians
- Pacific storm that unleashed flooding barreling down on southeastern California
- Single-engine plane crashes at Georgia resort, kills pilot
- The 401(k) millionaires club keeps growing. We'll tell you how to join.
- More than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war, Gaza health officials say
- Pacific storm that unleashed flooding barreling down on southeastern California
- Emergency repairs close Interstate 20 westbound Wateree River bridge in South Carolina
- EU countries double down on a halt to Syrian asylum claims but will not yet send people back
- Derek Hough says wife Hayley Erbert's skull surgery was successful: 'Immense relief'
Ranking
- Realtor group picks top 10 housing hot spots for 2025: Did your city make the list?
- Truck carrying gas hits railroad bridge and explodes as a train passes overhead
- Flu and COVID infections are rising and could get worse over the holidays, CDC says
- These now cherished Christmas traditions have a surprising history. It involves paganism.
- Warm inflation data keep S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq under wraps before Fed meeting next week
- Temu accuses Shein of mafia-style intimidation in antitrust lawsuit
- High stakes for DeSantis in Iowa: He can't come in second and get beat by 30 points. Nobody can, says Iowa GOP operative
- North Korea’s reported use of a nuclear complex reactor might be an attempt to make bomb fuels
Recommendation
California DMV apologizes for license plate that some say mocks Oct. 7 attack on Israel
Long-running North Carolina education case will return before the state Supreme Court in February
Two people who worked for former Michigan House leader are charged with financial crimes
Temu accuses Shein of mafia-style intimidation in antitrust lawsuit
Trump invites nearly all federal workers to quit now, get paid through September
Save 57% on the Tarte Sculpting Wand That Slims My Face After Eating Too Many Christmas Cookies This Year
Federal court revives lawsuit against Nirvana over 1991 'Nevermind' naked baby album cover
Grieving and often overlooked, Palestinian Christians prepare for a somber Christmas amid war