Leon Draisaitl, who starts this season as the NHL’s highest-paid player at $14 million AAV, is waiting like one and all in Oilers Nation to see best buddy Connor McDavid sign his extension.

“Of course I want him here as long as possible and I want to do it (win) with him,” said Draisaitl, who signed an eight-year extension last September while McDavid may only be looking for three or four more years after he finishes up the last year of his current eight-year, $100-million deal.

McDavid’s wife Lauren has business interests here, her bestie is Draisaitl’s wife Celeste, and the Oilers captain isn’t running out on his friend — is there really another team out there today with cap room that has a better shot at a Cup than the Oilers? — but if he signs for more than four years it will be a surprise.

“It’s about him and his family and they’ll make their decision based on that.,” said Draisaitl, who got married in the south of France last month to his longtime partner Celeste Desjardins to begin a new chapter in his life. “I know he loves it here, he’s comfortable here but there’s a lot of things that play into the decision. Hopefully it gets reported soon.”

The newlywed couple, along with McDavid and wife Lauren, honeymooned together in Europe, so they are all very close, but McDavid may not want to get tied in for eight more years like Draisaitl because of the rising salary cap — with the cap ceiling at $103.5 million starting in 2026-2027 and then going up to $113 million the year after.

Plus, he wants to see an Oilers roster that can win, and likely soon, with Draisaitl turning 30 next month and the core of Zach Hyman 33, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins 32, Mattias Ekholm and Adam Henrique both 35 and Darnell Nurse 30.

If the Oilers haven’t won a Cup in the next three or four years with McDavid and Draisaitl, who scored 50 goals for the fourth time last season and was Hart Trophy runner-up to Connor Hellebuyck, their window will possibly slam shut. Sobering thought, but true.

“All the teams start from zero and we’re in the same boat, trying to build our identity,” said Draisaitl, after the two straight Cup finals losses to Florida.

While being a Cup winner has a wonderful ring to it, so is getting married.

“It was a great summer … obviously that weekend was very special. Other than that I had a lot of downtime to get healthy and get back to work,” said Draisaitl.

Now starts the long 82-game grind to get back to not just the playoff journey but to exorcise the demons of the losses to the Panthers — in seven games in 2024 and six games this past June. There was more turnover over the summer than most teams getting as deep as the Oilers were.

They won’t be bringing back forwards Corey Perry (Los Angeles), Connor Brown (New Jersey) and Jeff Skinner (San Jose) and defenceman John Klingberg (San Jose), who all signed free-agent deals, while wingers Evander Kane (Vancouver) and Viktor Arvidsson (Boston) were traded. All but Arvidsson played in Game 6 in Florida June 17.

They’ve added winger Andrew Mangiapane (Washington), Hobey Baker winner Ike Howard in a Tampa trade for Sam O’Reilly, Czech forward David Tomasek, 29, who won the Swedish Hockey League scoring title and signed a one-way $1.2 million deal for one season, and fourth-line centre Curtis Lazar (New Jersey). And Bakersfield’s best player Matt Savoie will be in the picture for top-nine spot.

Mangiapane will play with either Draisaitl or McDavid. Howard, college hockey’s best player last season, has never played a minute of pro but will get a look in pre-season in the top six. Savoie, who helped his offence (54 points in 66 games) with some penalty-killing on the farm, will likely be a third- or fourth-line winger.

Tomasek, 29, who had dinner with countryman Ladislav Smid to get the lay of the land of Edmonton and the Oilers a short time ago, got 57 points in 47 games in a defensive-minded Swedish League, so will be in the top nine somewhere as a winger/centre. Lazar, the penalty-killing, right-shot centre, will be battling with fellow righty farmhand Noah Philp for a fourth-line spot. Philp has to clear waivers to be sent down if he doesn’t make Oilers.

The Oilers top six is in flux. If Ryan Nugent-Hopkins plays left wing, not third-line centre, the No. 1 line figures to be McDavid, Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman when his broken wrist is completely healed. Draisaitl, who is 44 points from 1,000, played with Vasily Podkolzin on left wing for much of last season but Mangiapane might take that spot now. Right-wing is up in the air.

The Oilers want to get faster, also younger.

“I like the moves we’ve made, we’ve got some guys (Howard, Savoie) coming in to bring a lot of energy. I think our identity will shift a little bit,” said Draisaitl, who has a long history with Mangiapane from the Battle of Alberta days when he was with the Flames.

“He’s one of those waterbugs. He has an engine that never seems to quit and those guys can be really annoying to play against. I never enjoyed played against him. Nice to have him on our side,” said Draisaitl.

Savoie played four Oilers games last season and acquitted himself well but there was no room for him on a regular basis. Now, they need his speed. “He’s got all the tools in the world to be an NHL player. You have to be patient with kids that age (21), travelling, scheduling. Potential-wise and tool-wise, he’s really impressive,” said

Draisaitl isn’t ready to give up Podkolzin as a linemate, though. Podkolzin has to score more, for sure, (eight goals in 82 league games, three in 22 in the playoffs) but he did have 10 playoff points. Nobody denies his worth ethic or his ability to keep plays alive for No. 29. But his offence has to improve.

“Podsy does a lot of work for me, sets me up and lets me have a lot of time with the puck,” said Draisaitl. “I really love playing with him, he’s an underrated player with the puck, a great hockey mind. I think there’s a lot more finish. But he doesn’t need to score to be really, really effective.”

He marvels at Podkolzin’s sweat labour, trying to get better, always out early for practices, staying late. “His work ethic is as good as I’ve seen in 12 years in this league. He’ll do everything for our group, blocking shots. You want to see guys like that rewarded more and there’s a lot more offensively there,” said Draisaitl.

Podkolzin is in defer mode with Draisaitl. That’s fine, but not all the time.

He doesn’t shoot nearly enough, 132 shots in 104 games, including playoffs.

This ‘n that: Ex-Oilers forward Dylan Holloway, who broke out in a big way with 63 points last season with the Blues, didn’t play in the post-season because he tore an oblique muscle off the hip bone and needed surgery. He’s fine now and likely in the $7-million AAV range on a new deal if he has another 60 points in St. Louis. He has this season at $2.29 million after the Oilers goofed big-time and didn’t match the Blues’ offer sheet last August … While Perry Pearn did seriously talk to ex-Oilers goalie coach Dustin Schwartz about a role as a skills coach with his Chinese men’s national team this season, it’s a no-go. Schwartz will be hanging around town here this winter. Schwartz spent 11 years with the Oilers organization … If ex Oilers defenceman Tyson Barrie, who just retired after almost 900 NHL games, doesn’t have a career in broadcasting we would be surprised. Well-spoken, lots of insight, self-deprecating sense of humour. Retiring “was probably a decision in tandem with 32 NHL teams,” he said when he announced his decision to step down. He wound up last season playing in the AHL for the Calgary Wranglers … Even though Milan Lucic, 37, is only a tryout with the Blues he has a fair chance of beating out either Mathieu Joseph or Alexandre Texier for a fourth-line spot if he has a good camp. Joseph ($2.95M) and Texier ($2.1M) both have another year on their contracts but one of those could be buried in the minors. Tie-in is Lucic played for Jim Montgomery in Boston and he would likely go to bat for Lucic … The Oilers are taking a one-year sabbatical on selecting players for their Wall of Fame after Ryan Smyth, Lee Fogolin, Doug Weight, Charlie Huddy, Craig MacTavish and Randy Gregg were honoured the first three years of the program … Former Oilers farmhand goalie Olivier Rodrigue starts his KHL career this weekend in Astana, Kazakhstan, the city of 1.5 million. He’s one of four tenders on their early-season roster … Former Oilers draft forward and Finnish U of Vermont grad Joel Maatta, who wasn’t signed after his NCAA career ended, is now with TPS, in Turku, Finland. Maatta, an assistant captain with TPS, had 27 points in 35 college games last season but the Oilers let their 2022 seventh-round pick go.