Player Discussion Leon Draisaitl - 2019 All-Star

[AM]

I was referring to GF%, not production. And before anyone claims I'm doing so, I'm not saying that RNH is better than Drai (he's not, and it's not close).

I don't think it's an unreasonable expectation for him to not be outscored while driving his own line. It's obvious that he's insanely skilled offensively, but his defensive abilities are practically nonexistent. Id be curious to see him paired with a winger who drives possession but doesn't produce a ton (like Pouliot from a few years back). Barring a massive improvement in his defense, having someone who can really drive possession and generate offensive zone time would let Drai work his magic in the offensive zone without getting his teeth kicked in. Although his production away from McDavid isnt stellar, it's his GF% that's really a problem. If you can find an undervalued winger who generates a ton of possession, you might be able to fix the latter and boost the former. Unfortunately, this would require our GM to think outside the box to solve a problem that he probably isn't even aware exists.

This team desperately needs a second line that can outscore the opposition. Our bottom 3 lines basically start our team down 1-0 and it's up to the top line to make up the difference. We can't just load up the top line and hope that they score 2-3 goals a game.

Reider, Chiasson, and Pulju aren't scrubs. They're by no means elite but they're decent players.

I agree. Drai is on a nice run now and the team is winning, however, even now there are alot of warts in his own end which superior goal-tending is making moot.

 

[JayE]

Draisaitl could stand to cut down on needless turnovers at both ends of the ice. He can be fairly loose with the puck in dangerous areas, which leads to dangerous turnovers. Of course, the same could be said for a lot of elite offensive players in this league, but it is a place where Draisaitl should, and definitely can, improve. Outside of that, he's undoubtedly worth his contract and is becoming one of the elite offensive forwards in the game (and he clearly has the potential to be a top two-way forward even if his game in his own end can be a little inconsistent right now).

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Get Nuge some help on the LW and keep Leon with Connor. Leon can be a frustrating payer to watch sometimes but then he does something insane like that backhand pass to McDavid the other day or wires a shot home. He has an absolute boatload of skill.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

 

[McClelland]

Steven, this is the very argument you make against Draisaitl. Apparently it's BS that Draisaitl was a point-per-game away from McDavid because he had McD with him on PP, OT, and other special situations. How many points of Pettersson's have come on the PP? SH? In OT? I'm sure that guys like Boeser and Horvat accounted for many of the those points, just as McD apparently accounts for many of Drai's points, even when they were on separate lines.

I dont want to go in to this discussion, i think Drai will outplay his contract!

But regarding to Pettersson so are he the creating force everything circle around! If Goldobin and Loui had convert on half of the A scoring chances Elias created, he would had atleast 50 p right now.

Boeser back from injury are a boost for EP40 production because he can finish, but its Elias who runs the show!

He had lousy scoring support about the first quarter in Goldobin and Loui the wreck. Boeser wasnt good starting the season before he was paired with EP40.

Right should be right!

 

[Tobias Kahun]

I dont want to go in to this discussion, i think Drai will outplay his contract!

But regarding to Pettersson so are he the creating force everything circle around! If Goldobin and Loui had convert on half of the A scoring chances Elias created, he would had atleast 50 p right now.

Boeser back from injury are a boost for EP40 production because he can finish, but its Elias who runs the show!

He had lousy scoring support about the first quarter in Goldobin and Loui the wreck. Boeser wasnt good starting the season before he was paired with EP40.

Right should be right!

And if mcdavids teammates converted on half his grace a chances he created, he would be at 100 points, a whole lot of what if's in this post.

 

[McClelland]

And if mcdavids teammates converted on half his grace a chances he created, he would be at 100 points, a whole lot of what if's in this post.

The point was that EP40 had less supporting cast then Draisaitl! McD are the best on the planet, he made a 30 goalscorer of Maroon and seems to do it with Chiasson!

 

[780il]

Delete

 

[Lay Z Boy GM]

My only complaint with Drai is you’ll see him wanting to make a certain pass, hang on, hang on, and then force the pass even though it’s obviously telegraphed and it gets blocked/intercepted. Sometimes he just needs to make the simple play, go for a short pass or even just chip the puck in deep.

Sure he makes some pretty bad turnovers but he’s not perfect like McDavid and I think sometimes people judge him too much compared to Connor and that’s just not fair.

 

[Spawn]

The point was that EP40 had less supporting cast then Draisaitl! McD are the best on the planet, he made a 30 goalscorer of Maroon and seems to do it with Chiasson!

Chiasson deserves more credit than that. He had 10 goals in 17 games before he even started playing with McDavid on the top line. His goal scoring has actually gone down somewhat since being on the top line.

 

[AM]

So mcdavid deserves less salary because the team didn't have "wins" last few years?

What a ludicrous arguement that salary should be based on team wins not individual ability.

As for ridiculous arguments...

Hockey is a team game. Sometimes the risk to obtain an extra goal is not worth the payback for the team, whereas, it is always worth it from an individual point of view if you "map" points and salary.

 

[McClelland]

Chiasson deserves more credit than that. He had 10 goals in 17 games before he even started playing with McDavid on the top line. His goal scoring has actually gone down somewhat since being on the top line.

Well, i like Chiasson, but thats not the whole truth! He played with McD and Drai, Rnh in pp before he lined up with McD. Cant be more then 3-4 goals with his old line. The rest are with McD /Drai/Rnh -PP

 

[Spawn]

Well, i like Chiasson, but thats not the whole truth! He played with McD and Drai, Rnh in pp before he lined up with McD. Cant be more then 3-4 goals with his old line. The rest are with McD /Drai/Rnh -PP

Well you didn't say RNH/Drai. You said that McDavid was responsible for turning him into a 30 goal scorer.

In those 10 goals in 17 games McDavid assisted on just 2 of them and only 2 of those 10 goals were on the PP.

No doubt Chiasson is benefitting from playing with McDavid/Drai/RNH. But he's been scoring goals with basically anyone he's played with this season. The player definitely deserves credit for that.

 

[McClelland]

Well you didn't say RNH/Drai. You said that McDavid was responsible for turning him into a 30 goal scorer.

In those 10 goals in 17 games McDavid assisted on just 2 of them and only 2 of those 10 goals were on the PP.

No doubt Chiasson is benefitting from playing with McDavid/Drai/RNH. But he's been scoring goals with basically anyone he's played with this season. The player definitely deserves credit for that.

My point was that he wasnt scoring at a high rate with 3/4 liners! Even if McD only assisted on 2 of these goals, it make it 8 in 17 games before entering 1st line. Drai and RNh also have some assist on those goals, so i assume that McD was involved in some of these goals also.

Chiasson has been great and he has done the best to take care of his chance to play with skilled players, so we can agree that hes been great and move on. Hope he can continue to score, he has the best chances to do that when playing with McD and Drai. You can never be sure, someone else could get hot and replace him if he slows down.

 

[VainGretzky]

He's been a minus player over the past 3 seasons away from McDavid.

Just from last season, Kopitar, Eichel, Staal, Hall, Keller, Trochek, Tavares, Larkin, and Stone (pre-Duchene) put up big numbers with mediocre linemates.

Pettersson is point per game with Goldobin and Eriksson on his wing. Those two are the equivalent of Caggiula and Lucic.

Who cares since 15-16 season he is plus 75 in goals scored while he is on the ice opposed too goals against , 100 percent net positive player on offence , and 2 out of those 3 seasons team missed playoffs , he helped with wins , not the opposite

 

[oobga]

He's been a minus player over the past 3 seasons away from McDavid.

Just from last season, Kopitar, Eichel, Staal, Hall, Keller, Trochek, Tavares, Larkin, and Stone (pre-Duchene) put up big numbers with mediocre linemates.

Pettersson is point per game with Goldobin and Eriksson on his wing. Those two are the equivalent of Caggiula and Lucic.

Don't all of the listed players get to play with the best guys in their lineup though? Who does Drai play with away from McDavid these last couple years? Guys like Lucic, Khaira, Pouliot.

I saw an analysis done, it's actually Drai+Lucic without McDavid that tanks Drai's away from McDavid stats the most. If you isolate time without McDavid AND without Lucic, his numbers are not nearly as bad. So, Drai can give some thanks to Chia and McLellan for that stat everyone likes to bash him for. I have a hard time being mad at any C that isn't able to carry Lucic as an Oiler on their back while being given an offensive push from the coach. McDavid did do it by going supernova last Jan/Feb, mainly because he seemed to just decide he has do everything solo and went nuts scoring goals while Lucic was getting zero points on his wing. But, Drai is not McDavid as we are all well aware.

 

[tellermine]

Darn good player. Actually get to see him live next year!

 

[Zaddy]

Trade him ASAP before league finds out he had a bad game and he loses all value.

Hoping Chia is on the phone as we speak.

 

[McTedi]

Trade him ASAP before league finds out he had a bad game and he loses all value.

Hoping Chia is on the phone as we speak.

Brutal game by Drai, he is starting to believe the hype about his superior godlike passing skill. So much so he doesnt even look where he is passing to.

 

[space321]

I have never seen a player of Draisaitl's calibre get hated on this much. Is it just because he's 8.5M instead of 7.5M? If so then the hate should be directed at Chiarelli right?

 

[Duke74]

Trade him ASAP before league finds out he had a bad game and he loses all value.

Hoping Chia is on the phone as we speak.

He's total garbage.

Overpaid. Overrated. Slow. Lazy. Can't backcheck. Can't play defense. More turnovers than a bakesale. Feasts off of free secondary assists. A product of McDavid. He's nothing without McDavid....nothing.

 

[Duke74]

I have never seen a player of Draisaitl's calibre get hated on this much. Is it just because he's 8.5M instead of 7.5M? If so then the hate should be directed at Chiarelli right?

Who the hell knows? I'm still trying to figure it out.

 

[MettleMcOiler]

Yup the trolls are making themselves clear.

 

[Mr Tadakichi]

>Has a defensive gaf in one game in the past 5 or so
>OMG HE SUCKS WAAAAH!!!

I can tell some people were just itching to start posting again once we lost a game.

 

[MessierII]

Drai is prone to criticism because his bad games he looks disengaged and is prone to turnovers. When big guys aren’t moving their feet and are turning it over it’s super noticeable. Same reason Lucic’s bad plays stand out. Drai has games like this which was a critisism since junior. It’s why a lot of people liked Bennett because he’s kind of the opposite. He’s always engaged but just has nowhere near the talent.