He did "okay" with Reider and Chiasson. "Well" is a stretch. And even if he did play well he didn't play up to his 8.5M contract. That being said, he's still obviously the 2nd best forward on this team. He does need more help from his Wingers. James Neal/Skinner/Hoffman/Domi were all available this last offseason at varying prices. Sad that Chia didn't even get a sniff on any of them.
I'm so sick of this narrative that because he makes a certain amount of money, he has to carry players who should be nowhere near a top 6. I've posted this before and I'll post it again for prosperity. Let's look at his comparables and see who they have had as linemates compared to Drai at center, this include MacKinnon, Monahan, Kuznetsov, Schiefele, Barkov and Pastrnak...
Rantanen, Landeskog, Gaudreau, Lindholm, Ovechkin, Ehlers, Wheeler, Dadanov, Hoffman, Bergeron and Marchand
vs.
Lucic, Cagguila, Cammalleri, Aberg, Lucic, Reider, Yamamoto, Puljujarvi, Chiasson
Can we please put an end to this BS that Draisaitl isn't worth his contract because he can't drag along a bunch of plugs? Put just about any other center in the league on a line with those guys and their production would drop as well.
To summarize, give him some f***ing skill to play with and he'll drive the f*** out of this line.
There's so many other issues with the team yet some of you decide to pick on one of their best players who has been many times their best player in this recent stretch (yes, better than McDavid recently). Enough already. Save the vitriol for those you deserve it.