Edmonton Oilers 15 Best Contracts (2005-2022)

This was originally published in my 2020 book Hunting Bargains in a Salary Cap World, and has now been updated with new contracts. I will continue to update each team’s list every summer going forward. The rule is that only active contracts can move up or down. Expired deals cannot pass each other. Next summer it may even be expanded to top 20. The book is still available on Amazon, though some of the stats on active contracts are now out of date. You may yet find it interesting because there were detailed stat graphics that you won't find here. One thing you won't find here are entry level contracts because they all come from the same cookie cutter and require less skill at the negotiating table.

My latest book The Hockey Economist’s Betting Prospectus is now available. It's a comprehensive commentary on the last 3 years of hockey betting, broken down by team, by category, by strategy, by season. There is plenty of useful information for bettors of all skill levels. It covers pre-pandemic, peak-pandemic, post-pandemic. What worked, what failed. Lessons learned, market trends, team-by-team analysis. What impact did the pandemic have on hockey betting? The market differences between these 3 seasons are discussed at length, and there's a lot to talk about. To read more, visit the Amazon store.
 
Enjoy! Please note: The formatting on the graphics got scrambled being copied from Excel into Google Blogger. It's among the reasons my blog is looking for a new home.

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It makes logical sense that a lion’s share of the Oilers best contracts came in the summer of 2005 prior to their most successful season when they came to within an inch of winning the Stanley Cup. Over the 14 years that followed, the team only made the playoffs once.
 
The Steve Tambellini and Craig MacTavish administrations spanned 7 seasons but you can read much more about their tenure on the Oilers worst contract list. Peter Chiarelli took over the reigns in 2015 shortly before the arrival of messiah Connor McDavid. Though Chiarelli may have only lasted 4 years in the gig and ended in disgrace, pistol Pete managed to autograph some of the Oilers best deals in the salary cap era (2 that ranked in the top 10 league-wide).
 
The list of good contracts does start to get thin towards the end and was challenging to complete. By contrast, the Oilers worst list was very easy to build with plenty of undesirable options to choose from. Despite all the disappointment that Oilers fans have suffered over the years, there is reason to be optimistic about the future. At the very least you got to enjoy McDavid more than the rest of us.
 
 
1. Connor McDavid
 

Signed By:	Peter Chiarelli		Position:	F
Date:	2017-07-05		Age July 1st:	21
Term:	8 years		Playoff GP:	20
Total Money:	$100M		Playoff PTS:	37
Cap Hit:	$12.5M		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	100.9	278	441	966
Per 82 GP	12.6	82	130	285	22.3

"Building a team to win the Stanley Cup was a constant point of discussion."

– Peter Chiarelli

It’s hard to put a price on players this good, one of the league’s best talents, with very few peers worthy of direct comparison. $100M is a good place to start. The simple answer is to say that McDavid is worth the maximum amount you’re allowed to pay a player under the CBA, despite the fact that no player has ever made 20% of a team’s cap since the salary limit was introduced. Sidney Crosby took a discount (as a % of the cap), but also got a 12-year back-diving contract that has since been made illegal.
 
Chiarelli claimed he had offered Connor a higher salary on shorter term, but that McDavid decided to stretch it to 8 years to lower the cap hit and help the team build a champion around him. Oilers fans can say what they want about Peter Chiarelli, but his signature has been on a few magnificent contracts.
 
It’s a safe bet that Connor will be in the MVP conversation for the duration of this deal, and if the cap continues to grow, it will only become a greater bargain. They bought 4 years of unrestricted free agency from one of the game’s best players. What we do in life, echoes in eternity. Some called this a “hometown discount” when it made him the highest paid player in the league, and they might be right.
 
 
2. Leon Draisaitl
 

Signed By:	Peter Chiarelli		Position:	F
Date:	2017-08-16		Age July 1st:	21
Term:	8 years		Playoff GP:	20
Total Money:	$68M		Playoff PTS:	37
Cap Hit:	$8.5M		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	69.5	367	479	1089
Per 82 GP	8.7	82	107	243	21.8

"For me, it was never a question of going anywhere else or signing anywhere else. That never even crossed my mind. I wanted to stay in Edmonton, I feel very comfortable there. I think we have a great group of guys and we're building something special."

– Leon Draisaitl

When Leon Draisaitl signed this 8-year extension in 2017, it seemed like a substantial overpayment based on comparables. Elite young centers like Barkov, Scheifele, and MacKinnon were getting paid much less, so there was some logical sense to the conclusion that Leon should have received a smaller sum. It was nominally the exact same salary that Steven Stamkos received as an unrestricted free agent one year earlier. 
 
But it was perhaps Evgeny Kuznetsov who first shifted the market for young RFA centers 6 weeks earlier, followed by Ryan Johansen, then Leon. Draisaitl had a scoring regression in year one, only strengthening the argument of anyone saying he was overpaid. That all changed in year two when he became one of the league’s top scorers, playing over 22 minutes per night, topping 100 PTS.
 
Any debate about whether or not he’s a bargain has been settled. Anyone who wanted to argue that his production explosion should be credited to playing with Connor McDavid, inflating his numbers beyond what he should be capable of producing, lost the argument in year three when Leon was moved off McDavid’s line and continued to score at an elite level. Draisaitl is the real deal and became drastically underpaid, winning the Hart trophy in 2020.
 
 
3. Chris Pronger
 

Signed By:	Kevin Lowe		Position:	D
Date:	2005-08-03		Age July 1st:	30
Term:	5 years		Playoff GP:	85
Total Money:	$31.25M		Playoff PTS:	69
Cap Hit:	$6.25M		Stanley Cups:	1

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	53.4	382	261	874
Per 82 GP	10.7	82	56	188	26.8

“There's nothing in the game he cannot do. There's nothing in the game that he does not excel at.”

- Craig MacTavish

The end of the 2005 lockout could not have gone better for the Oilers, who managed to steal Chris Pronger from the St. Louis Blues and signed him to a 5-year contract. Provisions in the new CBA made him a restricted free agent at age 30, but he still elicited at an expensive price tag that became more reasonable as the cap grew.
 
The big defenseman played a key role in Edmonton advancing to the Stanley Cup final, scoring 21 PTS in 24 GP in the 2006 playoffs. It all came crashing down to earth in year two, when Pronger demanded a trade and was promptly moved to Anaheim for a package of prospects and draft picks. It would be more than a decade before the Oilers returned to the playoffs, where Pronger went on to win a Stanley Cup in Anaheim.
 
There is a great “what if” question for Oilers fans, what if Chris Pronger had played out the remaining term of this contract in Edmonton? There would have been more playoff appearances than what they got, that’s for sure. There are some compelling conspiracy theories in circulation about Pronger’s demand to leave the city, but none are confirmed.
 
 
4. Taylor Hall
 

Signed By:	Steve Tambellini		Position:	F
Date:	2012-08-22		Age July 1st:	21
Term:	7 years		Playoff GP:	10
Total Money:	$42M		Playoff PTS:	8
Cap Hit:	$6M		Stanley Cups:	0

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	47.5	456	418	1555
Per 82 GP	6.8	82	75	280	19.4

“When they said seven years I didn’t blink. I’m comfortable being here for that long.”

– Taylor Hall

 
“I'm excited that I'm going to be able to play for a team that wants me. It's not that Edmonton didn't want me, but I certainly do feel a bit slighted by the whole thing.”

– Taylor Hall

Taylor Hall was a former first overall draft pick who scored 95 PTS in his first 126 NHL GP (62-point pace), before signing a 7-year extension. It was a longer version of the deal inked by fellow 1st overall pick John Tavares one year earlier, but more money (despite playing the wing).
 
Everything looked good after year one of this contract, when Hall posted 80 PTS, but injury problems in year two set him back. He had a knee injury early in the season, returned too soon, then cracked his ankle and lost more than a month. Hall then followed that up with a disappointing 65-point season in year three that led to one of the worst trades of the decade when he moved to New Jersey for Adam Larsson.
 
It wasn’t looking like such a bad trade when Hall dropped down to 53 PTS in his first year with the Devils and the Oilers won their first playoff series in a decade, but that all changed in 2018 when Hall jumped up to 93 PTS and won the Hart trophy. Now it will be remembered in perpetuity as one of the worst trades ever made.
 
Taylor should have been able to hit a home run in free agency when this expired, but fell victim to the Covid crunch and landed in Buffalo on a 1-year term.
 
 
5. Darnell Nurse
 

Signed By:	Ken Holland		Position:	D
Date:	2020-02-10		Age July 1st:	25
Term:	2 years		Playoff GP:	19
Total Money:	$11.2M		Playoff PTS:	7
Cap Hit:	$5.6M		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	11.3	127	71	357
Per 82 GP	5.7	82	46	231	25.3

“Can’t keep this team together. There’s no chance, the team that we just had, I can’t keep this team together because of salary cap. Some people might think, ‘That’s good, get rid of some of those people.’ But it’s the cap world. I’m going to try to make the team the best that I can. I know we got a really good nucleus.”

 – Ken Holland

Darnell Nurse signed a 2-year bridge deal following his ELC (which you can read about below) and when that expired, Holland elected to re-sign their best defenseman to another 2-year bridge rather than a long-term extension (which he inked after this deal, and you can read about that one on Edmonton’s worst contracts page). Though it very well could have been Nurse himself that chose another bridge, whether he wanted to test the UFA market or the Oilers simply didn’t have enough cap space to satisfy the price he needed to stay long-term.
 
Whatever the story, the Oilers got a 46-point, 25-minute D-man for substantially less than that’s supposed to cost. Granted, that discount could have been obtained by Holland promising to make it up to him on the next one, which may prove to be a greater liability than this surplus. I’ll under-pay you by $5M now, then over-pay you by $20M on next year. If this directly led to that, then perhaps this was actually a net liability.
 
 
6. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
 

Signed By:	Craig MacTavish		Position:	F
Date:	2013-09-19		Age July 1st:	21
Term:	7 years		Playoff GP:	17
Total Money:	$42.2M		Playoff PTS:	6
Cap Hit:	$6M		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	45.9	474	346	1163
Per 82 GP	6.6	82	60	201	19.5

"You can't find anyone in our organization that questions this deal. This was a complete no-brainer for us to bring Ryan in. He's been all-in for us since I've arrived here. That very much continues.”

 – Craig MacTavish

When Craig MacTavish signed Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to this extension, he walked over to the filing cabinet, grabbed Taylor Hall’s contract, and put it in the photocopy machine. The negotiation must have been pretty straight forward, requiring only a willingness from Nuge to give up 3 potential years of unrestricted free agency.
 
Ryan would have his ups and downs, but eventually evolved into a quality 2-way center. Injuries certainly contributed to some of the lows, but Nuge managed to jump up to 69 PTS in year five, returning strong value on the back half. The center has scored 60 PTS per 82 GP on the deal and averaging 19.4 minutes per game. It’s worth pointing out that this is the only MacTavish contract in the best 15, but his fingerprints are all over the Oilers worst list.
 
 
7. Darnell Nurse
 

Signed By:	Peter Chiarelli		Position:	D
Date:	2018-09-17		Age July 1st:	23
Term:	2 years		Playoff GP:	0
Total Money:	$6.4M		Playoff PTS:	0
Cap Hit:	$3.2M		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	6.6	153	74	366
Per 82 GP	3.3	82	40	196	23.6

“At first, I thought it would be done before camp, and then once camp started, it probably went a little faster. I was losing my mind a little bit sitting at home and not being on the ice.”

– Darnell Nurse

Darnell Nurse had not yet fully developed the offensive component of his game when he signed this treaty at the end of his ELC. The negotiation was contentious, as the young defenseman went unsigned into training camp, but once Josh Morrissey inked a 2-year bridge, Nurse agreed to similar terms the very next day (but with an extra $50K in salary).
 
This was a fair price for what he produced in 2018, but his value quickly exceeded his cost, jumping up to 41 PTS in year one of his new deal. Unlike the Klefbom ticket, Edmonton was unable to lock Nurse into a long-term contract that sold UFA years at a discount. 
 
 
8. Tyson Barrie
 

Signed By:	Ken Holland		Position:	D
Date:	2020-10-10		Age July 1st:	28
Term:	1 year		Playoff GP:	4
Total Money:	$3.75M		Playoff PTS:	1
Cap Hit:	$3.75M		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	3.8	56	48	146
Per 82 GP	3.8	82	70	214	21.4

“It wasn’t about money this year.”

– Tyson Barrie

Tyson Barrie surely had high expectations for what he could solicit on the UFA after back-to-back 60+ point pace seasons in Colorado. Then he was traded to Toronto, where he dropped down to 46-point pace and was considered a dissapointment, especially considering the Leafs traded a discounted Nazem Kadri to obtain him. That’s not how you want to go about entering unrestricted free agency, especially in a pandemic with a flat cap. I’d love to know what was the best offer he received, because I’m quite certain it was a lot more than this. Instead, my assumption is that Barrie bet on himself, and what he could do on the Edmonton power play.
 
It was a smart bet, as he scored at a 70-point pace, the highest total in his NHL career, leading all defensemen in scoring (with assists from McDavid and Draisaitl). Great bargain for Edmonton, but it didn’t lead to the jackpot offer he had to hoping for, or what you might expect the leading scoring defenseman to get paid. That being said, $13.5M ain’t bad for a lottery ticket. At close to $40M in career earnings, I think he’s going to be okay post-retirement. Let’s not shed any tears over his lost opportunity. He simply missed out on private jet money.
 
 
9. Jarret Stoll
 

Signed By:	Kevin Lowe		Position:	F
Date:	2005-08-10		Age July 1st:	23
Term:	1 year		Playoff GP:	24
Total Money:	$500K		Playoff PTS:	10
Cap Hit:	$500K		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	1.1	82	68	243
Per 82 GP	1.1	82	68	243	18.4

“We were absolutely rolling when we went into those playoffs. It took us until the 80th or maybe 81st game to clinch, but we were healthy, we got some breaks, we had unbelievable goaltending and timely goals. That’s what it takes.”

– Jarret Stoll

Prior to the signing of this contract, Stoll had only played 72 games in the NHL, scoring just 11 PTS. During the lost season, he scored 38 PTS in 66 GP for the Oilers farm team in the AHL. It made perfectly logical sense that he solicited close to the league minimum when he signed a new deal at the end of the lockout.
 
Then at age 23, Stoll made a giant leap in production, up to 68 PTS, adding an additional 10 PTS in the playoffs as the Oilers advanced to the Cup final. That turned out to be the best year of his career, never topping 68 PTS again. Jared inked a new 2-year deal when this expired for a higher price that would have qualified for this list if it was the top 20 contracts.
 
 
10. Ryan Smyth
 

Signed By:	Kevin Lowe		Position:	F
Date:	2005-09-14		Age July 1st:	29
Term:	2 years		Playoff GP:	29
Total Money:	$7M		Playoff PTS:	20
Cap Hit:	$3.5M		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	14.0	146	134	440
Per 82 GP	7.0	82	75	247	20.5

"It's a really good feeling. Now we can just go and play hockey and not worry about the negotiations part of it"

– Ryan Smyth

Ryan Smyth scored 23 goals and 59 PTS in 82 GP prior to the 2005 lockout and did not play pro hockey during the work stoppage. When the new CBA was signed, it took a few weeks to get his signature on a new ticket, but he settled on a carbon copy of what Alex Mogilny signed in New Jersey a few weeks earlier.
 
Smyth was a heart and soul player who scored 72 goals in 146 GP (40-goal pace) in the regular season on this contract, while helping them advance to the Stanley Cup final. Edmonton wasn’t willing to meet his asking price on the next deal, so they shipped him off as a rental to the Islanders for prospects and a first round pick (which they whiffed on, taking Alex Plante).
 
Smyth hit unrestricted free agency and cashed in with a big contract from Colorado, which you can read about on the Avs worst contracts list. Smyth began to decline at age 31 and never again surpassed 60 PTS.
 
 
11. Evander Kane
 

Signed By:	Ken Holland		Position:	F
Date:	2022-01-27		Age July 1st:	29
Term:	1 year		Playoff GP:	15
Total Money:	$2.1M		Playoff PTS:	17
Cap Hit:	$2.1M		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	2.1	43	39	152
Per 82 GP	2.1	82	74	290	19.4

"I'm excited"

– Evander Kane

Evander Kane was unceremoniously terminated by the San Jose Sharks for the grievance offense of violating Covid protocols, after not being able to terminate him for the alleged offense of gambling on hockey games. I can’t say for certain how many suitors there were when he became a mid-season free agent, but am positive he received a high volume of phone calls. Problem is, once the season has already started, most teams are up against the salary cap. He could have had many suitors, but no good teams could offer him a big package. The opportunity to play with McDavid and/or Draisaitl before becoming a free agent in the summer was as good as it gets for a guy who owes child support.
 
Oilers fans were not disappointed, as he scored 39 PTS in 43 GP, then scored 17 PTS in the playoffs as the team advanced to the conference final. The team was in a nosedive when Kane arrived, and he immediately reversed their misfortune. He became what they hoped Milan Lucic would be. The Oilers rewarded him with $20M in the summer. Kane’s ex-wife can count on those alimony payments for at least 4 more years.
 
 
12. Shawn Horcoff
 

Signed By:	Kevin Lowe		Position:	F
Date:	2006-07-14		Age July 1st:	27
Term:	3 years		Playoff GP:	0
Total Money:	$10.8M		Playoff PTS:	0
Cap Hit:	$3.6M		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	17.9	213	154	461
Per 82 GP	6.0	82	59	177	21.4

"I'm ecstatic, happy to be in Edmonton for three more years"

– Shawn Horcoff

Due to CBA rules, Shawn Horcoff was still a restricted free agent when his contract expired at age 27, but was in a great position for arbitration, having just scored 73 PTS, plus 19 more in the playoffs. Kevin Lowe avoided arbitration by getting Shawn’s autograph on a nearly identical deal as Henrik Sedin had just signed 2 weeks earlier in Vancouver.
 
In 213 GP on this treaty they got 154 PTS (59 PTS per 82 GP). It would have made more sense from the player’s perspective had he taken the fast track to free agency, but it all worked out in the end, as Shawn banked $33M on his next ticket, which you can read about on the Oilers worst contracts list. He never came close to 50 PTS again.
 
 
13. Ryan Strome
 

Signed By:	Peter Chiarelli		Position:	F
Date:	2018-07-06		Age July 1st:	24
Term:	2 years		Playoff GP:	0
Total Money:	$6.2M		Playoff PTS:	0
Cap Hit:	$3.1M		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	6.4	151	94	264
Per 82 GP	3.2	82	51	143	17.4

“The only thing I voiced to him is that I really believe in what’s going on in Edmonton. There are so many good people and players there that good things are bound to happen, and I want to be a part of it.”

– Ryan Strome

More was expected of Ryan Strome when he came to Edmonton as the only piece in the Jordan Eberle trade, but he failed to improve on his lacklustre production with the Oilers. Chiarelli didn’t have any problems retaining the center on a 2-year bridge deal close to the price of his qualifying offer, as the young center understood he needed to prove his worth.
 
In year one with just 2 PTS in his first 18 GP, Strome was traded to the Rangers for future buyout Ryan Spooner (a trade that became one of the nails in the coffin of Chiarelli’s Oilers tenure). Eventually Strome would be paired with Artemi Panarin and caught fire, scoring 59 PTS in 70 GP.
 
 
14. Shawn Horcoff
 

Signed By:	Kevin Lowe		Position:	F
Date:	2005-08-19		Age July 1st:	26
Term:	1 year		Playoff GP:	24
Total Money:	$1M		Playoff PTS:	19
Cap Hit:	$1M		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	2.1	79	73	167
Per 82 GP	2.1	82	76	173	20.0

“Let’s be honest. You come all this way, you want to win the Stanley Cup.”

– Shawn Horcoff

Shawn Horcoff had accumulated 4 seasons of NHL experience prior to the 2005 lockout, peaking at 40 PTS in 2004. Upon his return, the center accepted a 1-year deal at the same price that Scott Hartnell, Anson Carter, Nik Antropov, Luc Robitaille and Trent Hunter had all taken in the previous 3 weeks.
 
This was fair value for his past production, but like Stoll, Shawn returned from the lost season on fire, scoring 73 PTS, plus 19 more in the playoffs on the way to the Cup final. This would turn out to be the best year of his career by far, never again coming within 20 PTS of that total. His salary would continue to rise while his production continued to drop.
 
 
15. Ales Hemsky
 

Signed By:	Kevin Lowe		Position:	F
Date:	2005-08-15		Age July 1st:	21
Term:	1 year		Playoff GP:	24
Total Money:	$902K		Playoff PTS:	17
Cap Hit:	$902K		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	1.9	81	77	178
Per 82 GP	1.9	82	78	180	17.0

“It’s a lot of maybes. If we don’t lose that first game when we were up 3-0… If Rolly doesn’t get hurt…One game decides if everyone will cheer for you, or if everyone will forget. Edmonton was crazy. Then we lost, we come back home, and summer starts.”

– Ales Hemsky

Ales Hemsky accumulated 130 GP in the NHL prior to the 2005 lockout, scoring at a 40-point pace. He probably should have earned more than $900K when he signed his new contract, but relative to the new deals signed by his teammates (and the restrictive nature of the $39M salary cap), this amount is defensible.
 
The similarity to Horcoff and Stoll is astounding, as Hemsky came out of the lockout to score 77 PTS in 81 GP (with an addition 17 PTS in the playoffs), smashing his previous best, and a number that he would never surpass again in his career. There was $24.6M waiting for Alex when this contract expired, which would capture a dishonorable distinction of the most games played on a contract in the salary cap era with zero playoff appearances (at least when my book was published in 2020).