Player Discussion Leon Draisaitl - 2019 All-Star

[McFlash97]

As soon as Draisaitl asks for a move, 97 goes right after. Guaranteed. You think Pronger was bad, unless people in Edmonton are braindead zombies, Rogers Place immediately gets to 9,000 or less during games and people will riot. All it will take is one of them to say im out.

 

[TheNumber4]

He did well with Rieder and Chiasson...the problem of the Oilers is the complete lack of forward depth. There's only so much you can do playing with the likes of Lucic and Yamamoto. Why is this concept so hard to grasp for some people? He got results playing with Rieder and Chiasson who honestly are probably 3rd liners and nothing more. So to say he can't do anything without McDavid is super disingenuous. He hasn't played with even average top6 talent in this league. Drai can't force a guy like Lucic to start scoring goals or 5'8 Yamamoto to not get muscled off the puck.

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.

 

[Zaddy]

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.

They scored 5 goals together and were only in on 1 goal for the opposing team. They also had positive CF% and very positive HDCF%. That is quite a bit more than "okay".

I don't know why every Drai discussion have to include the contract either. The 8 million dollar price tag is the new standard for young, successful centermen in this league. Ryan Johansen is a prime example of that and he was signed by arguably the most competent management in the league with no history of overpaying (Josi, Ellis, Ekholm, Järnkrok all signed to extremely cheap contracts). The guy scored a grand total of 29 goals over the past two seasons and only has 3 goals this year. Not only that but his numbers away from Filip Forsberg are dreadful. 49.11 CF%, 34.38 GF%, 41.52 HDCF%, and this is in a large sample size and with a solid on-ice sv%. Yet he earns $2M more than Forsberg, despite being a clearly inferior player.

Kuznetsov was signed to a $7.8M deal after only having 19 goals and 59 points that season. He's been doing well in Washington much thanks to the large amount of talent on that team. How do you think he'd look if he suddenly had to play with guys like Lucic and Yamamoto? Do you think he'd put up PPG+ seasons with those guys? It doesn't matter what you earn if you play with garbage. This is not basketball. Hockey is a team game. It's just so unfathomable to me that people would rather criticize Draisaitl for not producing with garbage than blame Chia for not giving him anything to work with.

 

[McBigYak]

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.

Hindsight is 20/20, but that signing is looking absolutely putrid by Calgary, and I'd consider it a blessing Chia didn't pursue that one. James Neal is bringing less to the Flames right now than Lucic is with us.

 

[Todd from Leduc]

Drai is a top 5 in the NHL $6mil/year player... making $8.5mil

 

[Duke74]

There's a reason why he was put back with McDavid.

Yes. The reason was that nobody, even McDavid, were producing during the three-game losing streak on the road. You could argue almost as easily that McLellan needed to get McDavid going so he gave him Draisaitl. But you still have to push your agenda, I guess.

 

[Duke74]

His 5v5 P/60 away from McDavid is 1.22, which ranks 9th on the Oilers after Khaira and Benning. He's got a negative CF%, GF%, and xGF% away from him too, and a horrendoues HDCF% of 42.65. He's a product of McDavid and most definitely not worth $8.5M. He's still a very, very good complimentary winger but players of that caliber are not worth that cap hit.

Yawn. In other news....

 

[ujju2]

He was great on the second line as the centre imo. He's been pretty good with McDavid too, but I'd rather have him back on the second line - Nuge obviously has no chemistry with his second line wingers. Put him back with McDavid. And while Drai has been good, the top line hasn't been overly effective the past two games either.

 

[Duke74]

Some of this crap that I'm reading is simply unreal. Amongst all the things wrong with this team, including GMing, coaching, goaltending, defense, and secondary scoring, we're picking on a 23-year old on pace for 50 goals and 95 points.

He's a product of McDavid.
He's overpaid by 2.5 million.
He's lazy on the backcheck.
He's pouting and grumpy.
His fancy stats aren't so fancy.

No wonder fans of other teams hate and ridicule this ridiculous fanbase. Pathetic.

 

[Duke74]

Ah, we're back to this eh?

His numbers with Rieder and Chiasson look pretty good. 50.89 CF%, 83.33 GF%, 58.06 HDCF%.

It's almost like chemistry and having half-decent linemates matter. Remind me, how is Looch and Yamamoto doing in the NHL right now? How many goals have Lucic scored in the last 63 games? How did he look with McDavid against the Flames? Wasn't killing plays or anything was he? Nah he's fine. Better blame the center.

Any other actual good Oilers player you want to take a dump on? You got Larsson and Drai, who's next? RNH? McDavid? Klefbom?

Even McDavid, who spent significant time this/last year with both Yamamoto and Lucic couldn't make either of them piss a drop. But somehow Draisaitl was supposed to. Funny how that works.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

I am still not sure if we see McDrai together the rest of the season but he is the least of our problems right now IMO. IMO he's playing closer to his potential than McDavid is to his at the moment. Whether it's McNuge or McDrai, the odd man out has a gorilla the size of King Kong to carry on their back for the 2nd line. Hopefully Spooner and one of our prospects in Bako change that soon.

 

[Soundwave]

Drai is a top 5 in the NHL $6mil/year player... making $8.5mil

You guys are stuck in 2012 and think the salary cap is still $60 million dollars.

If it's so easy to play with McDavid too, why doesn't Jesse Wonder Draft Pick Puljujarvi score 90 points with McDavid. I'm sure no one would complain with that.

 

[ujju2]

I am still not sure if we see McDrai together the rest of the season but he is the least of our problems right now IMO. IMO he's playing closer to his potential than McDavid is to his at the moment. Whether it's McNuge or McDrai, the odd man out has a gorilla the size of King Kong to carry on their back for the 2nd line. Hopefully Spooner and one of our prospects in Bako change that soon.

Exactly. The only issue here is the pressure on the 2C and the fact that if the 2C can't carry the line enough then McDavid's line has to do everything, and even with the best player in the world they won't always be able to produce. This team has serious issues in how its built and blaming Drai when he's actually played really well this season is foolish.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

You guys are stuck in 2012 and think the salary cap is still $60 million dollars.

If it's so easy to play with McDavid too, why doesn't Jesse Wonder Draft Pick Puljujarvi score 90 points with McDavid. I'm sure no one would complain with that.

Well first of all he would need to play with Connor for more than a few minutes.

 

[Soundwave]

Well first of all he would need to play with Connor for more than a few minutes.

He doesn't get to play there because

1.) He can't finish

2.) He's incredible awkward and erratic with the puck, and likely McDavid doesn't like that.

3.) His hockey I.Q. is low. He doesn't know where to go on the ice.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

He doesn't get to play there because

1.) He can't finish

2.) He's incredible awkward and erratic with the puck, and likely McDavid doesn't like that.

3.) His hockey I.Q. is low. He doesn't know where to go on the ice.

4.) His coach is a dip**** that kills confidence in young players.

5.) See 4.)

 

[Soundwave]

4.) His coach is a dip**** that kills confidence in young players.

5.) See 4.)

Leon seems to have done fine. The odds are Puljujarvi is simply not that great, if he can play and do things like embarrass NHL defenders and score at this level, you're going to do that. Players like Jesse that need to be spoon fed everything are likely not that great to begin with.

 

[Zaddy]

Yes. The reason was that nobody, even McDavid, were producing during the three-game losing streak on the road. You could argue almost as easily that McLellan needed to get McDavid going so he gave him Draisaitl. But you still have to push your agenda, I guess.

Yup. Leon is even outproducing McDavid by 1 point in the last 10 games. I don't know why it's so hard for some people to see that they both complement each other and they both obviously love to play together. McDavid is better with Drai, Drai is better with McDavid.

 

[Porkleaker]

He doesn't get to play there because

1.) He can't finish

2.) He's incredible awkward and erratic with the puck, and likely McDavid doesn't like that.

3.) His hockey I.Q. is low. He doesn't know where to go on the ice.

4.) Because Todd ruined his development and is a f***head

 

[Soundwave]

4.) Because Todd ruined his development and is a ****head

IMO lack of hockey IQ is a killer, if you don't have that, good luck. You better have some overwhelming individual athletic ability like Ovechkin's shot or something. A coach can't fix that.

 

[Oilers 322]

Seems like an odd time to bump this thread. I would argue that Draisaitl has been the best forward during this losing stretch. Drai will always be the scapegoat because of his price tag. I’ll gladly overpay one of our best player 1-1.5m. That money means nothing if the rest of the cap isn’t egregiously mismanaged.

 

[Draiskull]

Drai will continue to get criticized because of the money he makes but he should not be blamed for wanting the big money. Blame Chia for giving it.

 

[CupofOil]

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.

 

[Zaddy]

Didn't watch the game last night (4.30 am start here) but saw the extended highlights and Drai looked really good there. Some sick passes to McDavid and another 3 points in the bank.

Anyway, for people thinking he's overpaid look at these recent reports:




Skinner and Panarin, two wingers, are looking for contracts that are in the $9-11 million range.

As I've said before, what Drai is being paid is the new going rate for high-end skill forwards these days. Guys like Marner and Nylander will probably be paid in the $8-9 million range as well.

Had we signed Drai to a bridge deal we'd probably be looking at $10+ million on a long-term deal in the future.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Holy crap I would rather have Leon Draisaitl than eiher Panarin or Skinner. Leon is one of the biggest impact players in the league right now and would be more obvious if his production was not narrowly overshadowed by Connor.

Leon now 8th in NHL in pts and tied for 5th in goals scored. He's also caught Pastyrnk who has spend every minute playing with filthy linemaes like Bergeron and Marchand who obviously drive vast majority of the play.

Leon has had a fraction of his minutes with Connor, has had more of it with comparative dolts, and despite this is among the league leaders. Look at the topten, all these players are on ringer lines all the time, get each other every minute, have PMD, scoring D support etc. Every advantage over Leon and yet Leon is right there with them.

On basis of play this year Leon could be in the top handful of forwards so far this season. Not earning pay? Yeah he is. Again.