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Under Pressure: Leon Draisaitl

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during the third period of the NHL game at Gila River Arena on December 21, 2016 in Glendale, Arizona. The Oilers defeated the Coyotes 3-2.

Christian Petersen

This post is part of Oilers Day on PHT…

In a fairer world, most of the pressure in Edmonton would be on Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli.

After all, Chiarelli could have conceivably locked up Leon Draisaitl to a far cheaper contract extension if he was a little more proactive about it. The Oilers barely wasted a second in signing Connor McDavid to an extension when they got the chance - and justifiably so - but you wonder if they dropped the ball in allowing Draisaitl to pump up his value with a breakthrough contract year.

And, beyond discussions of Draisaitl + McDavid at $21 million compared to Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane at that price (not to mention the cheaper duo of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin), Chiarelli is the one who’s been handing out questionable contracts to the likes of Milan Lucic and Kris Russell.

Anyway, when you leaf through reactions to the $8.5 million per year price, the debates don’t seem to revolve around whether or not the Oilers overpaid Draisaitl; instead, much of the bickering centers on how excessive the contract is.

That’s not great for a 21-year-old who still boasts a pretty small resume, especially if his bloated contract eventually forces other, talented players out of Edmonton.

The big concern is that the Oilers paid big for Draisaitl in large part based on his production alongside McDavid, while cap realities would likely prompt Edmonton to ask each player to center their own line.

In 2016-17, Draisaitl’s most common linemates were Patrick Maroon and then McDavid, and by a large margin.

Just like with virtually any talented forward, Draisaitl saw a significant boost with McDavid vs. without him, as Jonathan Willis illustrated in detail for Oilers Nation. That’s not the big German forward’s fault, really, but it makes it scarier to hand him a massive extension without a large body of evidence that he can be a difference-maker on his own.

The Oilers gave Draisaitl a bigger deal than a scorer with a larger body of work (and thus more proof that he’s a true top center) in Ryan Johansen and generally made him one of the highest-paid centers in the NHL.

Now, it’s not all doom and gloom. After all, part of the reason for the big raise was how well he played in the playoffs, sometimes without McDavid goosing his numbers.

Even so, that’s a small sample size, and now many people will expect Draisaitl to be the Malkin to McDavid’s Crosby.

That’s a dangerous proposition, and the Oilers might not have a ton to fall back on if Draisaitl has trouble dealing with the stresses that come with getting a huge contract. No doubt about it, he’s under a lot of pressure.