While I certainly expect that Draisaitl's willingness to re-sign will be impacted by the outcome of this playoffs I think an article like this one:
Illustrates his dilemma if his goal is to "win" somewhere else. The author claims through comments by Georges Laroque in an article by Jimmy Murphy
that Draisaitl is interested in playing for the Bruins if he does not re-sign with the Oilers.
Could Edmonton Oilers superstar center Leon Draisaitl become the future No. 1 center for the Boston Bruins? Speaking recently on BPM Sports, 91.9 FM in Montreal, former NHL enforcer Georges Laraque reported that Draisaitl is interested in playing for the Boston Bruins if he does not sign an...
bostonhockeynow.com
Here is a quote from the first article:
Two - there is only so much losing that one player can take. At some point they need to go to a different environment that is better for them. If Draisaitl wants to go to an organization that's focused on winning, it's tough to pick a better team than the
Boston Bruins.
I will ask this. When was the last time Boston won the cup? The answer is 2011 which was years before Leon entered the league. That team had Lucic in his prime, Bergeron 25, Chara 33, Krejci 24, Horton 25, Marchand 22, Seguin 18 as well as vets like Recchi, Peverley and Ryder. In addition to Chara on the back end they had Seidenberg, Boychuk, Kaberle, McQuaid and Ference. Their goalies were Tim Thomas and Tuuka Rask.
The last time the Bruins got out of the first round was 2021. But that was a much better roster. This version of the Bruin's is a shadow of that cup team in terms of talent with their top three skaters being Pastrnak 27, McAvoy 25 and soon to be 36 year old Brad Marchand. He would be 37 in the first year of Draisaitl's new deal. They are a team that wins in the regular season on the backs of solid team play and great goaltending. They also do not have a pick in the first three rounds this year and no second the year after to go along with a very limited prospect pool.
Does Leon make the Bruin's more of a contender than the Oilers would be with he and McDavid with a $13M salary??? The Bruins would have to subtract a fair bit from their current roster to fit him in. They could probably manage it next year at $8.5M but that would most likely mean a trade and signing. If the Oilers felt like they were forced to move Leon this off season what would the ask be from Boston? Futures would not be of any interest unless the plan was to completely retool with McDavid gone as well. I'd ask for Swayman and Zacha or Carlo and Lohrei. I'd also make them take Campbell at 50% retained and have them buy him out. Would the team that was left be a cup contender??? If so would the window be more than a year or two?
Frankly for me the Bruins should be viewed more like a team that may need to rebuild in three years than a team poised to make a serious run in the future.
