Player Discussion Leon "Dr Drai" Draisaitl: The Next Episode

[Mcnofool6110]

Dr. Drai is just unreal.

 

[Starbuds]

I'm so excited at the prospect of having McDavid as our second line C.

 

[USC Trojans]

Things have gone so poorly for us the last 10 years, we're bound to have some good luck to balance out the universe.

McDavid was #1
Drai emerging is #2
Hopefully Nurse and Klefbom continue to develop into solid d-men for us

 

[dem]

Drai's backhand pass is really just a thing of beauty.

 

[Oi'll say!]

Drai plays defense well enough that he can be on the ice all the time. His solid defense generates up-ice play leading to his offense, and his offense is killer. He's the Getzlaf/Kopitar this team has needed for soooo long. Having McDavid as well is overkill lol. But I'll take it, I'm not complaining.

Sad to say but there's no way that we have Yak, RNH, Hall, Eberle, MacDavid and Draisaitl all here long term and not have a stud d-man. We are saying good-bye to a player we all like soon and I don't envy Chia for having to trade one of those guys.

I don't wanna speculate on who's moving. I'm enjoying the games too much right now.

 

[Replacement*]

German Kopitar. Quite a player.

Comes from Cologne.

Koln

Big as a Cathedral.

 

[rasarhdasd]

I'm gonna be honest, I was extremely concerned he might have busted with how he looked last year. Now obviously he won't score 1.6 ppg all season, but even if he shot 10% he'd still a .pgg, take away some assists for whatever reason (just for arguments sake) and he'd still be on a 60 point pace.

His skating looks completely fine and wow, what a different player.

 

[Oilhawks]

German Kopitar. Quite a player.

Comes from Cologne.

Koln

Big as a Cathedral.

Love the place, love the player.

 

[jukon]

Really excited for how well he's playing. Not to get too far ahead of things, it's amazing to think RNH might end up being our 3rd best centre.

 

[Draw Me a McElephant]

I just love the short little passes that he makes in the offensive zone. So many players will just cycle the puck along the boards endlessly but Drai is amazing at making short passes from the boards to the center of the ice with very little time like he did to Purcell on the Klefbom goal. Those plays look so simple, yet it is really only the top tier playmakers like Sedin and Thornton who do it that well.

 

[MinimaMoralia]

I just love the short little passes that he makes in the offensive zone. So many players will just cycle the puck along the boards endlessly but Drai is amazing at making short passes from the boards to the center of the ice with very little time like he did to Purcell on the Klefbom goal. Those plays look so simple, yet it is really only the top tier playmakers like Sedin and Thornton who do it that well.

It's true, his passing game is superb. Unbelievable in fact. And because of that, with him, the play is almost never dead.

 

[Mr Positive]

it's unreal how he's picking up McDavid's slack. We'll see how he keeps this up as the season progresses. The real test for any player is how they sustain great play as the opposition starts adjusting to them.

 

[McSpecial DraiBlend]

I will be shocked if he and Hall don't finish the year at ppg to be honest.
They just click and both are playing well defensively.
Mcllelan is looking like the right man for the job.

 

[Mr Positive]

I will be shocked if he and Hall don't finish the year at ppg to be honest.
They just click and both are playing well defensively.
Mcllelan is looking like the right man for the job.

with McLellan the good players shine and the bad players are exposed. It was basically the opposite in previous years. Now it's like we can actually start building a roster with some sanity

 

[dustrock]

with McLellan the good players shine and the bad players are exposed. It was basically the opposite in previous years. Now it's like we can actually start building a roster with some sanity

An interesting point.

 

[McDeathbyCheerios*]

with McLellan the good players shine and the bad players are exposed. It was basically the opposite in previous years. Now it's like we can actually start building a roster with some sanity

It's like having a really good pair of headphones.

With ****** headphones, all the music sounds average even the really low quality recordings, everything is on the same level.

With really good headphones the great quality tracks sound great but the **** quality sounds even worse

 

[Ragss]

Really was something watching him skate through Toews and Kane, then pass it right by Keith. Three of the very best players in the league.

 

[Oiler11]

Good thing Drai waited until he was 20 to work on his legs and acceleration. If his first two steps were this good in junior he would have picked by Florida or Buffalo, he wouldn't have fallen to us.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

'15-16 AHL stats
William Nylander 15gp. 8-12-20 +6
Draisaitl 6gp. 1-1-3 -5

We REALLY should've picked Nylander

 

[Canovin]

I can't help but want to do the C walk every time Drai scores

 

[Replacement*]

Good thing Drai waited until he was 20 to work on his legs and acceleration. If his first two steps were this good in junior he would have picked by Florida or Buffalo, he wouldn't have fallen to us.

I wonder if this is part of the McDavid effect. We saw the same thing with Wayne Gretzky here. Everybody wanting to do everything possible to be better players as something special and getting to play on a team with generational greats. (also Hall)

People forget that prior to Gretz Mess was a straight up and down physical winger with not all that much scoring ability. he honed and worked on his skillsets relentlessly turning himself into a 50 goal scorer. Mess always had amazing drive though. But a lot of players on that club got better and passionately wanted to get better.

Some intelligent players are realizing that they want to be part of something special here. Drai was very upset by reports being sent down this year. The team talked to him at length about it. He needed to know he was going to be on this club. He played the whole prospects games and preseasons games with the intent to be the best Oiler leaving nothing to chance.

Nurse and klef will also elevate their games.

 

[McDeathbyCheerios*]

I wonder if this is part of the McDavid effect. We saw the same thing with Wayne Gretzky here. Everybody wanting to do everything possible to be better players as something special and getting to play on a team with generational greats. (also Hall)

People forget that prior to Gretz Mess was a straight up and down physical winger with not all that much scoring ability. he honed and worked on his skillsets relentlessly turning himself into a 50 goal scorer. Mess always had amazing drive though. But a lot of players on that club got better and passionately wanted to get better.

Some intelligent players are realizing that they want to be part of something special here. Drai was very upset by reports being sent down this year. The team talked to him at length about it. He needed to know he was going to be on this club. He played the whole prospects games and preseasons games with the intent to be the best Oiler leaving nothing to chance.

Nurse and klef will also elevate their games.

The big thing with Drai is the media didn't seem to care about him. Every interview was about McDavid.

We wanted to give them something to talk about.

 

[Oiler11]

The adversity Leon experienced almost certainly was a driving factor for him to improve his skating. If he remained up with the club all season last year, there is a good chance he doesn't see the need. Gifting him a roster spot last year would have been the worst thing for his development, glad it didn't happen.

 

[KCC]

Really excited for how well he's playing. Not to get too far ahead of things, it's amazing to think RNH might end up being our 3rd best centre.

RNH is very good when he's on his game, but he's a very streaky player. Right now he's been struggling alot the last few games.

He's really stepped up at times when there have been key injuries, but this time it has been Drais stepping up.

Quite the unexpected, pleasant surprise.

 

[McDynasty]

I don't see RNH as part of this team long term, two years maximum if Drai and McDavid work out. Last year Drai came in with only RNH to compete with for a top spot, his spot was pretty much there for him. This year he saw that spot taken away because of McDavid, feeling slighted at being ignored despite his remarkable play in the WHL, he has risen to give RNH a run for his money for a top 6 role, if he can continue to dominate then RNH will be expendable.

Can't have RNH on a 3rd line and making 6 million.