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It’s perhaps odd to think of an athlete signing a $100-million contract and that deal being a bargain or a discount, but that’s what Connor McDavid’s new eight-year, $100 million dollar deal amounts to for the Edmonton Oilers.

Here are the top 7 reasons why:

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Having McDavid locked in for the next nine years, Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli can now recruit other players by selling them the certainty they will be on a team with McDavid. That should be an extremely attractive option for any player and should drive down the amount Chiarelli must pay to sign up other NHLers. One true superstar hockey player appears to have a catalytic impact on an NHL team. Of course, that superstar can’t be the only great or strong player on his team if the club is to advance. But having that generational talent to build around certainly looks to be the quickest formula for the rapid turnaround of a franchise. At age 21, Sidney Crosby won his first Stanley Cup. So did Howie Morenz, Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Guy Lafleur, Gordie Howe and Bobby Orr. As for the Oilers, with McDavid they’re suddenly a favourite to win the Cup next year. He’ll be 21 this January, by the way. Fact is Edmonton fans are jittery about superstar players leaving town, as that is what happened with Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Jari Kurri, Paul Coffey, Grant Fuhr and Chris Pronger. This long-term deal with McDavid soothes those fears, which all Oilers fans will greatly appreciate. McDavid’s contract, at the time it was signed, represented 16.7 per cent of Edmonton’s salary cap. Sidney Crosby’s second contract represented not only a higher percentage of the cap at that time it was signed, 17.3 per cent, but McDavid’s deal is also for eight years, not five years, the term of Crosby’s second contract. Because the term of McDavid’s contract is so long the Oilers will be in an increasingly competitive position as McDavid advances through his prime hockey seasons. If the cap rises in conservative fashion at the same rate of 2.82 per cent as it has in the last three seasons, McDavid’s contract will take up 16.21 per cent of the cap in its first year, but just 13.34 per cent in its final year 2026-27. If the cap rises in far more bullish fashion but as its done since it first came into being in 2005-06 (at an average annual rate of 5.76 per cent per year), McDavid’s contract will be 15.77 per cent of the Oilers cap in 2018-19 and just 10.72 per cent of the cap in 2026-27. Yes, McDavid will be the highest paid player in hockey, but The Sporting Newsreports that at least 67 players in the NBA will make more than McDavid next year (and this was before that league’s free agency period), along with at least 52 NFL players and 86 major league baseball players. Fellow Canadian Kelly Olynyk, who was mostly a bench player for the Boston Celtics last year, just signed a four year $50 million dollar deal with the Miami Heat. On a free NHL market with no salary cap, it’s easy to imagine bidding for McDavid going as high as $25-to-$30 million per year. The kid is a money making machine for the Oilers, selling not only seats, food and Oilers merchandise, but adding a brilliant glow to billionaire owner Daryl Katz’s multi-billion real estate play in the Ice District. McDavid is getting paid less than he’s worth, and that’s true even under the cap, where he could have taken $15 million per year if he had pushed, but is taking $20 million less than that over eight years. Eight years of McDavid in Edmonton: $100 million. Eight years with less chatter from Leafs fans and media speculating he’s about to become a free agent and move to Toronto: priceless.

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