Not sure what's wrong with Draisaitl but it's extremely disconcerting.
These "doldrums" reoccur this time every year, but this is the worst I've seen it. Regardless of how bad things are, as a professional athlete, you need to keep pushing, you need to give an honest effort every night. You don't see other stars, Matthews, Ovechkin, MacKinnon, Kucherov, etc. act like that for a month or so every year.
Although the team's losing, you'd think he'd at least give a shit about the scoring race which he's about to surrender very shortly and doesn't seem slightly concerned about. Or, more importantly, helping your team win. He talks about how important the Stanley Cup is and yet he goes through these "spells."
This is his eighth year in the league and completely unacceptable at this juncture of his career. You would think he'd work on overcoming this issue by now. He talks about how hard he works every summer and how motivated he is to improve, well, start with improving your attitude, maturity level, and give-a-f***. Otherwise, your words are hollow, empty shells.
Someone mentioned injuries or illness, but I don't think that's the case. If it is, Tippett should force him to sit out until he recovers. It's not like we're doing well these days with him on the ice anyways.
I'm a little pissed he spent his day off Sunday skiing when he should have been engaging in self-reflection or visiting a sports shrink. It's almost like he's content to collect a paycheque and have fun away from the rink.
I have a feeling what ails him lies between his ears and nothing else. But I'm no expert...
