The Edmonton Oilers were close to a Stanley Cup in 2024, but fell just short, and now it appears they could be on the verge of losing top star Leon Draisaitl. Over the past few days, all the signs in Edmonton have pointed towards Leon Draisaitl not signing an extension in Edmonton this off-season. While it's not the best move, there's a level of trust that's been built up between the two parties for a long time, but letting him walk into the season as a pending free agent carries immeasurable risk. Now, top NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman has suggested the signs could point towards Draisaitl pulling a Matthew Tkachuk after the former Flame requested a trade the year before his free agency. <q>«This situation mirrors that of Matthew Tkachuk from two years ago. The Calgary Flames thought they were doing well by trading Tkachuk for MacKenize Weegar and Jonathan Huberdeau . They immediately signed both to long-term extensions. The trade and the signings proved to be a huge mistake. Two years later, the Flames are rebuilding and the Panthers are the Stanley Cup champions.»</q> Obviously there are plenty of differences between the two situations, as the Oilers have a star studded roster led by Connor McDavid to fall back on, but with the captain hitting free agency in the summer of 2026, the team need to do everything right to keep him in their good books. <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/JayOnSC/status/1806140409401221438'> </a></blockquote></div> At this point, it's highly unlikely that Draisaitl requests a trade in the coming weeks, but if the Oilers continue to slow walk negotiations and disrespect him in the process, it will certainly become a major story to keep a very close eye on. Source: Hockey Feed <a href='https://www.hockeyfeed.com/nhl-news/hints-of-leon-draisaitl-pulling-a-matthew-tkachuk-exposed?utm_source=facebook-post&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=hockey-feed&fbclid=IwY2xjawD2GylleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHfii0_eDg13ciIOmKnYgbjDbaV0ktWL0uhuYSlJ8lLme_cVtmB07s4r_5g_aem_neG0_2fEfPPu1a1p0Z879A' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'> Hints of Leon Draisaitl pulling a Matthew Tkachuk exposed!</a>