Player Discussion Leon Draisaitl - 2019 All-Star

space321

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May 11, 2011
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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.

Man I wish we had Bennett's 100% hustle and his 10 points.
 

Kofi Annan

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Dec 15, 2018
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Seems Oiler fans can’t stand a 23 year old point per game player being locked up long term.

Maybe it`s the money, or his nationality....who knows
 
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MettleMcOiler

5-14-6-1
Mar 9, 2011
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Seems Oiler fans can’t stand a 23 year old point per game player being locked up long term.

Maybe it`s the money, or his nationality....who knows

I highly doubt that some of these posters are real oiler fans because all their doing is giving oiler fans a bad name and that in itself is cause for suspicion.
There are criticisms and then their comments that purposely are intended to shame the player because of his contract as if he wasn't't living up to it. Like this player should be traded because of this ridiculous transgression. And there are oiler fans taking the bait. Foolish.
The amount of troll-like over reacting comments just reflects the real value of Draisaitl and is more telling of their insecurities of the posters then what type of player Draisaitl truly is. They can't handle that the oilers have a player like him along side McDavid and the oilers. So they will do anything to discredit his ability even though there is far more evidence of him earning his contract then not.
So please, do not think oiler fans do not want this player. The jerseys in the stands and posters defending him says otherwise. It is the non oiler fans who don't want the oilers to have this player.
 

Shaquille Oatmeal

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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.
I noticed this most of last year also. It seems he would rather force a low % highlight reel pass than make high % smart plays. It's infuriating because he is such a talent.
 

Jamin

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Aug 25, 2009
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Seems Oiler fans can’t stand a 23 year old point per game player being locked up long term.

Maybe it`s the money, or his nationality....who knows
Well according to the 2016 census 10% of Canadians have German heritage so I doubt it
 

space321

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May 11, 2011
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I noticed this most of last year also. It seems he would rather force a low % highlight reel pass than make high % smart plays. It's infuriating because he is such a talent.

high% smart plays AKA dumping the puck in the corner and giving up possession? Or start a cycle that ends with a pass to the point where our D instantly loses it? Those are the high% plays that our Identity Line (TM) operates on every shift and how many goals do they have to show for it?

McDavid and Draisaitl are elite players, they can make the plays that other players can't. Don't need to stifle their creativity by telling them to make the 100% safe "dump it in the corner" play. As long as they're scoring more than getting scored on, there is zero problem with how they play.

Fact: our recent winning surge is mostly powered by McDavid and Drai's preformances. Without them we'd have won like 2 games.
 

Shaquille Oatmeal

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high% smart plays AKA dumping the puck in the corner and giving up possession? Or start a cycle that ends with a pass to the point where our D instantly loses it? Those are the high% plays that our Identity Line (TM) operates on every shift and how many goals do they have to show for it?

McDavid and Draisaitl are elite players, they can make the plays that other players can't. Don't need to stifle their creativity by telling them to make the 100% safe "dump it in the corner" play. As long as they're scoring more than getting scored on, there is zero problem with how they play.

Fact: our recent winning surge is mostly powered by McDavid and Drai's preformances. Without them we'd have won like 2 games.
He tries to get too fancy when it's totally unnecessary. Creativity is fine, dumb passes aren't.
 

space321

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May 11, 2011
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He tries to get too fancy when it's totally unnecessary. Creativity is fine, dumb passes aren't.

I completely disagree, as evidenced by the fact that Draisaitl is the 2nd leading scorer on this team only behind McDavid. Clearly whatever he's doing is working.
 

AM

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Nov 22, 2004
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Edmonton
Posters who are needlessly critical are about as irritating as posters who are fanboys.

Welcome to the inter-webs.
 

Shaquille Oatmeal

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I completely disagree, as evidenced by the fact that Draisaitl is the 2nd leading scorer on this team only behind McDavid. Clearly whatever he's doing is working.
Im not saying it's black and white like "either he's a bad player or a good player". He's successful, yes. Does he force no look passes, yes. It's okay to admit that.
 
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Drivesaitl

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He tries to get too fancy when it's totally unnecessary. Creativity is fine, dumb passes aren't.

What you need to reflect on is that Drais makes a lot of goals happen with those "fancy passes" For instance a couple games ago in what is arguably the pass of the season that led to a Connor goal. If that pass doesn't work you might call it a dumb play. But theres good reward, and no real risk on the play. The probable worse that occurs is icing.

Nor is Drai makng incredibly high risk leading to own goal passes.

he's making pretty good decisions with the puck generally. Its always a risk reward game, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Because in competitive sports two teams are on the field its the other teams job to stop something. So that of course its impossible to only make passes or plays that work..;)

Case in point just the last game. Connor makes a pass over to Chiasson for what he figured was automatic goal. But the play was broken up at the last second and it didn't happen. Connor is on the bench staring at the monitors wondering how it didn't go. To viewers, to those in the audience, it looked like a sure goal. But one opponent got a stick in there and made a better play. Took it away. The nature of competitive sport.

Good players succeed more than they fail. Everybody fails from play to play. It wouldn't be competitive sport otherwise.

The old saying is you can't succeed without being willing to fail.
 

Drivesaitl

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Im not saying it's black and white like "either he's a bad player or a good player". He's successful, yes. Does he force no look passes, yes. It's okay to admit that.

His no look passes are not blind. If you rewind on the player, what is called a no look pass is almost always a sneaked a look pass. The passing player has a pretty good idea who is there. The reason they feign it as no look, or backhand, or whatever, is to catch the other club by surprise, to make it look like you didn't spot the opening. Drai's game is very cerebral as well. if he spots an opponent D down low, or out of position, he would have recognition that a certain area of the ice is likely open, that a play is on.

Give you another example. Gretz would often "no look" a pass back to Paul Coffey as trailer if he felt nothing else was there. people would ask how he would hit that pass every time. people would say "you didn't even look" Gretz would just smile back, oh I knew"

Wasn't until years later that Coffey and Gretz were telling people Gretz would look at the plexiglass behind the opponent goal and see the reflection of Coffey coming up the ice behind him. Jaws dropped...people were astounded.

I don't think its bs either. Amazing players have amazing ways of making plays.

Gretz also stated he could hear Coffey skate, hear his unique stride. Coffey skating sounded different. There was nobody else that skated that well. So he knew where Paul was that way as well.
 

oXo Cube

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Im not saying it's black and white like "either he's a bad player or a good player". He's successful, yes. Does he force no look passes, yes. It's okay to admit that.

OK but if this is your position what point are you trying to make exactly? That Leon isn't perfect?
 

Shaquille Oatmeal

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What you need to reflect on is that Drais makes a lot of goals happen with those "fancy passes" For instance a couple games ago in what is arguably the pass of the season that led to a Connor goal. If that pass doesn't work you might call it a dumb play. But theres good reward, and no real risk on the play. The probable worse that occurs is icing.

Nor is Drai makng incredibly high risk leading to own goal passes.

he's making pretty good decisions with the puck generally. Its always a risk reward game, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Because in competitive sports two teams are on the field its the other teams job to stop something. So that of course its impossible to only make passes or plays that work..;)

Case in point just the last game. Connor makes a pass over to Chiasson for what he figured was automatic goal. But the play was broken up at the last second and it didn't happen. Connor is on the bench staring at the monitors wondering how it didn't go. To viewers, to those in the audience, it looked like a sure goal. But one opponent got a stick in there and made a better play. The nature of competitive sport.

Good players succeed more than they fail. Everybody fails from play to play. It wouldn't be competitive sport otherwise.
That back hander was a thing of beauty.

I made one comment agreeing with somebody who also noticed he guesses sometimes without knowing for sure there is an oiler there to receive the pass. It was very common last year. I guess I opened a can of worms with my observation.

I like Drai he's excellent for the most part but this is one of my biggest pet peeves about him. It's a flaw, not a huge one but a flaw nonetheless. Sorry I brought it up because I'm not as sensitive about it as others are apparently. If people feel it's not something he should work on improving that is totally fine.
 
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frag2

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Mar 8, 2006
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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.

I dont hate Drai though him gliding rather than skating towards the puck and his insistence on forcing no look backhanders is frustrating af.
 

space321

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May 11, 2011
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That back hander was a thing of beauty.

I made one comment agreeing with somebody who also noticed he guesses sometimes without knowing for sure there is an oiler there to receive the pass. It was very common last year. I guess I opened a can of worms with my observation.

I like Drai he's excellent for the most part but this is one of my biggest pet peeves about him. It's a flaw, not a huge one but a flaw nonetheless. Sorry I brought it up because I'm not as sensitive about it as others are apparently. If people feel it's not something he should work on improving that is totally fine.

Don't play the sensitive card when there's quite a large number of people who are ready to pounce literally the second that one of Draisaitl's passes don't work. All of you guys need to learn how to appreciate what Draisaitl provides to this team on offense instead of taking it for granted. If he never makes risky passes I'd garuantee he'd have less points than RNH right now. He makes those passes because he's good enough to make them work. The worst that could happen is a turnover in the offensive zone, which other players on this team commit habitually even without trying risky plays.
 
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guymez

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Mar 3, 2004
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Im not saying it's black and white like "either he's a bad player or a good player". He's successful, yes. Does he force no look passes, yes. It's okay to admit that.

The no look back passes and occasional lazy pass are there for all to see. I have no idea why someone would be defensive about that.

I think these are elements of maturity as a player and I expect that part of his game to get cleaned up over time.

For some posters to deny that this is happening though is really odd.
 
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Drivesaitl

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That back hander was a thing of beauty.

I made one comment agreeing with somebody who also noticed he guesses sometimes without knowing for sure there is an oiler there to receive the pass. It was very common last year. I guess I opened a can of worms with my observation.

I like Drai he's excellent for the most part but this is one of my biggest pet peeves about him. It's a flaw, not a huge one but a flaw nonetheless. Sorry I brought it up because I'm not as sensitive about it as others are apparently. If people feel it's not something he should work on improving that is totally fine.

Not at all, feel free to express an opinion. You are not inflexible on the subject like some. I wasn't trying to pile on, just responding, and you've displayed that you respond to information and some explanation. Sure players should learn about what works, what isn't, its a continual process. leon does that better than most players. its why he has around 160 assists already in the NHL and he just turned 23. He's looking like he'll be the first 1000pt German player ever. It could happen for him.

One thing though, is Leon sometimes forces plays in goal down situations where the prospects are looking bleak. sometimes the plays are score effects things when the game is not going well. This also being a product of a lineup that is often very limited in production. Its compensation, which is often a bad thing. maturity and experience does improve some of that.
 

oXo Cube

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The no look back passes and occasional lazy pass are there for all to see. I have no idea why someone would be defensive about that.

I think these are elements of maturity as a player and I expect that part of his game to get cleaned up over time.

For some posters to deny that this is happening though is really odd.

Nobody denies that it's happening. What we're saying is that it comes with the territory of being a player through whom offense flows. When you try to play the puck into the middle of the ice you are going to turn it over 4 in 5 times no matter who you are.

There is a reason the shortlist of giveaway leaders at the end of every season is loaded with top offensive talent.
 
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