Player Discussion Leon Draisaitl '18-19 Season

[Drivesaitl]

He can. Chemistry-wise, Leon is a finicky type. I'm not sure we have the right type of wingers for him - Yams? JP? Draisaitl prefers the strong cyclers like Maroon, McDavid, etc.

Its not really so finicky. Drai is Euro, Euro game involves cycling. Drai needs at least one other linemate that can move the puck efficiently/effectively.

Could anybody imagine what only one Sedin would look like instead of two? That's the quandary Drai is in here presently.

Definitely Reider and Pulju would be better fits although Jesse has to work on the cycling aspect being cleaner.

 

[rambo97]

A prime Hemsky and Drai I think would have been a good combo (I think)...

Finding the right type of winger for Drai will need to come from outside the org.

I think Zuccarello and Drai could work. Zuc can’t score but he’s a good puck handler and playmaker.

Marner and Drai would be sick but that’s never happening.

I think Galchenyuk and Drai could be a good combo also

 

[BAM]

He can. Chemistry-wise, Leon is a finicky type. I'm not sure we have the right type of wingers for him - Yams? JP? Draisaitl prefers the strong cyclers like Maroon, McDavid, etc.

Problem is when you're paying him 8.5 million he better be able to produce and drive his line regardless of who his linemates are

 

[Drivesaitl]

Problem is when you're paying him 8.5 million he better be able to produce and drive his line regardless of who his linemates are

Every star player except Crosby needs a legitimate 2nd. Show me one that doesn't. Even most nights Connor needs some support, whether its coming from a Drai, Nuge, Rattie, or Maroon. Put scrubs like Cammy and Cagg (i.e. garbage) with McD and it impacted his game too.

 

[Aerrol]

I'm not worried about his pre-season form. I'm worried about his form away from guys like Hall and McDavid because his track record without that level of player isn't that great.

Well, I personally think that there's likely middle ground between "carry the worst wingers in the top 9" and playing with McDavid. Hopefully the coaching staff comes to that conclusion too and actually tries pulling Lucic off the line. Otherwise yes I do have concerns about how we're using him.

 

[Little Fury]

Well, I personally think that there's likely middle ground between "carry the worst wingers in the top 9" and playing with McDavid. Hopefully the coaching staff comes to that conclusion too and actually tries pulling Lucic off the line. Otherwise yes I do have concerns about how we're using him.

I agree with this 100%.

 

[BAM]

Every star player except Crosby needs a legitimate 2nd. Show me one that doesn't. Even most nights Connor needs some support, whether its coming from a Drai, Nuge, Rattie, or Maroon. Put scrubs like Cammy and Cagg (i.e. garbage) with McD and it impacted his game too.

Tavares, Kopitar, Eichel, Kuznetsov, Marner all produce without much talent on their lines that are considered top line caliber, LD needs to be able to carry his line consistently if the Oilers want to make the playoffs.

 

[Aerrol]

Tavares, Kopitar, Eichel, Kuznetsov, Marner all produce without much talent on their lines that are considered top line caliber, LD needs to be able to carry his line consistently if the Oilers want to make the playoffs.

To repeat myself, sure, but surely we as a team can find a medium ground between Lucic and whatever is leftover vs being with McDavid. Taking Lucic off the damn line should be on the table very early imo. Give em a game or two in the reg season but not more than that.

Also as a general comment I feel like if Leon didn't get his big overpay contract, there wouldn't be nearly as much annoyance with his play.

 

[BAM]

To repeat myself, sure, but surely we as a team can find a medium ground between Lucic and whatever is leftover vs being with McDavid. Taking Lucic off the damn line should be on the table very early imo. Give em a game or two in the reg season but not more than that.

Also as a general comment I feel like if Leon didn't get his big overpay contract, there wouldn't be nearly as much annoyance with his play.

There wouldn't be but at his price tag he better be able to produce and drive his own line, hence the frustration. He's got the potential to be a line driver but for the Oilers they better hope he gets his shit together quick and become that player.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Tavares, Kopitar, Eichel, Kuznetsov, Marner all produce without much talent on their lines that are considered top line caliber, LD needs to be able to carry his line consistently if the Oilers want to make the playoffs.

This just isn`t accurate. In most of your citations these players have one adept player, at least, to play off of. I`m most familiar with Kopitar and he also struggles if his linemates are poor. Kopitar has the added advantage of having a Norris Trophy D playing with him a lot of the time. Drai doesn`t have that. When Drai doesn`t have linemates to work off of he has nobody.

 

[Aerrol]

There wouldn't be but at his price tag he better be able to produce and drive his own line, hence the frustration. He's got the potential to be a line driver but for the Oilers they better hope he gets his **** together quick and become that player.

I understand that you have to pull your weight at that cap hit, but it bugs me to no end when I see the issue framed this way.

IMO it shouldn't be 'Leon better carry his line or else he's not worth the contract and we need to get rid of him', it should be 'Leon has shown a lot of really high level play that earned him a big contract. How do we set him up so he can reach that level consistently on his own line to be worth the money?'. This same issue applies to Eberle Hall and RNH in the past too, among others. Star players still need something to work with. It's imo counterproductive to immediately put the onus all on them after they earn a new contract.

 

[PinSeeker]

Tavares, Kopitar, Eichel, Kuznetsov, Marner all produce without much talent on their lines that are considered top line caliber, LD needs to be able to carry his line consistently if the Oilers want to make the playoffs.

Kopitar has horrific high danger chance numbers (30% less) away from Dustin Brown. Kuzy played half the year with Ovechkin, and has a 6% lower high danger chance percentage away from Oshie. I could go on but I think we should focus more on the right mix - which I agree we have not seen yet - than thinking LD has to be some savior of a line.

 

[Drivesaitl]

To repeat myself, sure, but surely we as a team can find a medium ground between Lucic and whatever is leftover vs being with McDavid. Taking Lucic off the damn line should be on the table very early imo. Give em a game or two in the reg season but not more than that.

Also as a general comment I feel like if Leon didn't get his big overpay contract, there wouldn't be nearly as much annoyance with his play.

its a bit strange too. Drai is only making 2.5M more than a sad sack player that is robbing the Oilers of capspace. Drai at least puts up results commensurate with his pay and always has. With Drai its a question of around 1M overpay. With Lucic its around 5M.

Where I disagree with you though is that there was Drai dislike here even far before the contract. There was always so many comments here of him being Hall dependent, McD dependant, and comments that don`t come up in relation to any other player here but Maroon, who was similarly criticized.

There was plenty of annoyance with Drai before the contract. There was plenty of comments that he sucked or wasn`t bringing it. A lot of it is people not even understanding the skating or pace of a power forward. Constant comments of Drai dogging it because he`s not McD speed and pace..

the reality is McD is on this club and everybody in the league except Crosby would pale in comparison. That's probably the biggest challenge of all. The constant comments of why can`t he drive like McD are interesting, but misguided.

I wonder if Malkin or Kessel get a lot of this in Pittsburgh.

 

[BAM]

Kopitar has horrific high danger chance numbers (30% less) away from Dustin Brown. Kuzy played half the year with Ovechkin, and has a 6% lower high danger chance percentage away from Oshie. I could go on but I think we should focus more on the right mix - which I agree we have not seen yet - than thinking LD has to be some savior of a line.

I'm not saying you have to surround him with crap but I don't see why a line of Nuge-LD-Puju can't work. I know the Oilers put Nuge with McDavid but tbh, McDavid can produce regardless of who his linemates are, he's the best offensive talent in the world. Teams are still going to put their shutdown lines and pairings against him. However, with Nuge-LD-Puju, the Oilers have a dangerous 2nd line that will punish teams and make them pick their poison. If I was the Oilers, I'd load up my second line with LD to force teams to put shutdown lines against them because it'll only make McDavid's line stronger getting away from top QoC.

 

[PinSeeker]

Still do not consider LD an overpay though either, since Tavares makes $11 million for equivalent point production even with Tavares scoring 30 on the PP last year, and Drai only 11...

 

[PinSeeker]

I'm not saying you have to surround him with crap but I don't see why a line of Nuge-LD-Puju can't work. I know the Oilers put Nuge with McDavid but tbh, McDavid can produce regardless of who his linemates are, he's the best offensive talent in the world. Teams are still going to put their shutdown lines and pairings against him. However, with Nuge-LD-Puju, the Oilers have a dangerous 2nd line that will punish teams and make them pick their poison. If I was the Oilers, I'd load up my second line with LD to force teams to put shutdown lines against them because it'll only make McDavid's line stronger getting away from top QoC.

If I were a betting man I would say 20 games in we will have seen Pulju with Draisaitl

 

[Aerrol]

its a bit strange too. Drai is only making 2.5M more than a sad sack player that is robbing the Oilers of capspace. Drai at least puts up results commensurate with his pay and always has. With Drai its a question of around 1M overpay. With Lucic its around 5M.

Where I disagree with you though is that there was Drai dislike here even far before the contract. There was always so many comments here of him being Hall dependent, McD dependant, and comments that don`t come up in relation to any other player here but Maroon, who was similarly criticized.

There was plenty of annoyance with Drai before the contract. There was plenty of comments that he sucked or wasn`t bringing it. A lot of it is people not even understanding the skating or pace of a power forward. Constant comments of Drai dogging it because he`s not McD speed and pace..

the reality is McD is on this club and everybody in the league except Crosby would pale in comparison. That's probably the biggest challenge of all. The constant comments of why can`t he drive like McD are interesting, but misguided.

I wonder if Malkin or Kessel get a lot of this in Pittsburgh.

I never noticed this much negativity towards him pre contract after Hall was traded. It was largely positive, and he certainly won me over after I was skeptical his skating would improve enough when we drafted him.


As for Malkin and Kessel, Malkin gets a bit of it but his Conn Smythe and Hart tend to keep the doubters quiet. Kessel though... Man has the tune changed on him. The year he was traded for, he could do literally nothing wrong. The second year, people hated on him during the regular season but then quieted down when he had a Conn Smythe level playoffs (if you want to see a guy who can turn it on during the playoffs, Lucic, go watch Kessel lol). And then last year he got a lot of bizarre anger again despite having a career best year as the Pens team defence broke down more with exhaustion and personnel losses. So we'll see how this year goes.

 

[Drivesaitl]

I'm not saying you have to surround him with crap but I don't see why a line of Nuge-LD-Puju can't work. I know the Oilers put Nuge with McDavid but tbh, McDavid can produce regardless of who his linemates are, he's the best offensive talent in the world. Teams are still going to put their shutdown lines and pairings against him. However, with Nuge-LD-Puju, the Oilers have a dangerous 2nd line that will punish teams and make them pick their poison. If I was the Oilers, I'd load up my second line with LD to force teams to put shutdown lines against them because it'll only make McDavid's line stronger getting away from top QoC.

A line of Rieder-Drai-Pulju would be fine. Nuge is not ideal, either, playing with Drai. he works better with physical cycle players. Its the line combo the Oilers should land with. I think they want to see Pulju get his legs under him for a longer time before doing it. The team wouldn't be worried about Drai, obviously they are not given who he's with again.

 

[BAM]

A line of Rieder-Drai-Pulju would be fine. Nuge is not ideal, either, playing with Drai. he works better with physical cycle players. Its the line combo the Oilers should land with. I think they want to see Pulju get his legs under him for a longer time before doing it. The team wouldn't be worried about Drai, obviously they are not given who he's with again.

You don't have to believe me now but trust me you'll regret wanting to put Rieder on LD's line over a full season, he's nothing special

 

[Arpeggio]

I actually didn't mind Lucic's game last night haha. He found some open spots for Draisaitl to feed him one-timers, and he actually connected on them which was nice to see. I think if they found the right third player it could work. I actually think Yamamoto should be on the team, but I wouldn't mind seeing Reider back up in that spot for a game or two. He's looked much better over the last two.

 

[Drivesaitl]

You don't have to believe me now but trust me you'll regret wanting to put Rieder on LD's line over a full season, he's nothing special

I've watched Rieder play at least a hundred games in NHL or German National side. I know his game intimately. Probably more than any poster here.

Rieder is a fine player. He can support offense. While he probably tops out at a 20 goal scorer and 45pt guy, he is tireless getting to pucks and creating puck battles in opposition end. he stretches D in that way. Without which the opponent scheme can just focus on Drai in NZ. With Rieder is he'll get to most any dump in. Rieder significantly impacts the speed quotient of any line he's on. We haven't even seen his best game here yet.

 

[GameChanger]

Rieder is a fine player. He can support offense. While he probably tops out at a 20 goal scorer and 45pt guy, he is tireless getting to pucks and creating puck battles in opposition end. he stretches D in that way. Without which the opponent scheme can just focus on Drai in NZ. With Rieder is he'll get to most any dump in. Rieder significantly impacts the speed quotient of any line he's on. We haven't even seen his best game here yet.

I don't know Rieder well, especially as I haven't been able to watch the preseason games. But by the sound of it they should really try Rieder, Drai and Pulju together. Pulju has had his ups and downs, but it doesn't look like the pressure of playing in top6 has been his problem so I don't quite buy this "the 3rd line's best for him" thing. Not that it should matter too much, but the Euro connection might give them a bit of extra push, too.

 

[Drivesaitl]

I don't know Rieder well, especially as I haven't been able to watch the preseason games. But by the sound of it they should really try Rieder, Drai and Pulju together. Pulju has had his ups and downs, but it doesn't look like the pressure of playing in top6 has been his problem so I don't quite buy this "the 3rd line's best for him" thing. Not that it should matter too much, but the Euro connection might give them a bit of extra push, too.

I've been very positive with Pulju's play this preseason. This is the play I have wanted him to bring. using his size more, his stride more and getting to forechecks. When he works like this he is valuable. But I still think the team wants him to build a bit more confidence extending this nature of play to reg season. If all goes well I suspect he will be with Drai early enough and I would want that. But I want the Pulju current intensity and focus to continue. This is the best Pulju has ever played here.

 

[Porkleaker]

I've watched Rieder play at least a hundred games in NHL or German National side. I know his game intimately. Probably more than any poster here.

Rieder is a fine player. He can support offense. While he probably tops out at a 20 goal scorer and 45pt guy, he is tireless getting to pucks and creating puck battles in opposition end. he stretches D in that way. Without which the opponent scheme can just focus on Drai in NZ. With Rieder is he'll get to most any dump in. Rieder significantly impacts the speed quotient of any line he's on. We haven't even seen his best game here yet.

From this pre-season I'm surprised there's not more buzz around him and his speed. Very tenacious on the puck and a big breakaway threat, I like him a lot and with that he's pretty responsible defensively too.

 

[booyakasha]

only if they are resting McDavid. Would be stupid otherwise. Would Toby get an A ?

Why would it be stupid?
It's just an exhibition game...not even against an NHL team.
He could also skate by his dads bench and point to it as playful jabbing.
I think it would be fun.