Leon Draisaitl

Leon Tim Draisaitl[1] (German: [ˈdʁaɪ.zaɪt.l̩]; born 27 October 1995) is a German professional ice hockey forward and alternate captain for the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Draisaitl grew up playing hockey in Germany until he was selected second overall in the 2012 CHL Import Draft by the Prince Albert Raiders.[2] After two seasons with the Raiders, he was drafted third overall by the Edmonton Oilers in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft in the 2014 season. In 2020, Draisaitl became the first German-born player to win the Art Ross Trophy as the leading point scorer in the NHL.

Leon Draisaitl
Draisaitl with the Edmonton Oilers in 2014
Born (1995-10-27) 27 October 1995
Cologne, Germany
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 208 lb (94 kg; 14 st 12 lb)
Position Centre / Left wing
Shoots Left
NHL team Edmonton Oilers
National team  Germany
NHL Draft 3rd overall, 2014
Edmonton Oilers
Playing career 2014–present

Draisaitl is the son of former German national team player Peter Draisaitl, who represented West Germany and Germany in 146 games, including at World Championships, the World Cup and at the 1988, 1992 and 1998 Olympic Winter Games.[3][4]

Playing career

Before moving to North America to continue his playing career, Draisaitl spent the 2011–12 season in the German Development League (DNL) with the Jungadler Mannheim U18 team, leading his team to capture the DNL Championship. He was recognized for his outstanding performance by being named the DNL Player of the Year.

Major junior
Draisaitl at the 2014 CHL's Top Prospects Game.

Draisaitl's major junior career began with the Western Hockey League's (WHL) Prince Albert Raiders during the during the 2012–13 WHL season.

Draisaitl was traded to the Kelowna Rockets during the 2015 World Junior Championships, the trade made official on 5 January. Draisaitl would help the Rockets to the 2015 WHL Championship, where he would be named playoff MVP after scoring 28 points in 19 games. Draisaitl won the Stafford Smythe Trophy as Memorial Cup MVP the same year, although the Rockets did not win the 2015 Memorial Cup, losing the championship final in overtime 2–1 to the Oshawa Generals.

Professional

Draisaitl was drafted third overall in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft by the Edmonton Oilers, making him the highest drafted German-trained player in NHL history (Dany Heatley, who was selected second overall in 2000, was born in Germany but raised in Canada).

On 12 August 2014, Draisaitl signed a three-year, entry-level contract with Edmonton.[5] Making the Oilers' NHL opening night roster out of training camp, Draisaitl made his NHL debut on 9 October 2014 against the Calgary Flames. He scored his first NHL goal on 24 October 2014 against Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Anton Khudobin. Draisaitl appeared in 37 games for the Oilers during the 2014–15 season, recording two goals and four assists, before being returned to the Prince Albert Raiders. The move was made partly to prevent Draisaitl from moving one year closer to free agency which he would have done had he been on the Oilers' roster for more than 40 NHL games).[6]

During the last Oilers game at Rexall Place on 6 April 2016, Draisaitl scored the last NHL goal to be scored there in a 6–2 win over the Vancouver Canucks.[7][8]

On 23 March 2017, Draisaitl became the first Oiler player since 1990 to have six-straight multi-point games.[9]

On 7 May 2017, in Game 6 of Edmonton's second-round 2017 Stanley Cup playoff series against the Anaheim Ducks, Draisaitl became the second youngest Oiler in franchise history to score a hat-trick in the Stanley Cup playoffs and the fifth player in Oilers history to score five or more points in a playoff game.[10]

On 16 August 2017, Draisaitl signed a eight-year, $68 million contract extension with the Oilers worth an annual average cap hit of $8.5 million.[11]

On 6 April 2019, Draisaitl became the sixth Oiler (and the first since Craig Simpson in 1987–88) to score at least 50 goals in a season. Draisaitl became the ninth Oiler to score at least 100 points in an NHL season.

In 2020, Draisaitl became the third Oilers player (after Wayne Gretzky and Connor McDavid) and first German player to win the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer.

International play

Medal record
Ice hockey
Representing Team Europe
World Cup
2016 Toronto

Draisaitl represents Germany internationally. He played for the German junior team in the World Junior Championships in 2013 and 2014, serving as team captain in the latter tournament. In the 2014 tournament, he was ejected from a round-robin game against the United States after he committed a hit from behind and was later issued a one-game suspension.[12]

Draisaitl was named to the German senior team roster for the 2014 IIHF World Championship.[13] He also selected to play for Germany at the 2018 IIHF World Championship.[14]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Bold indicates led league

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2011–12 Jungadler Mannheim U18 DNL 35 21 35 56 39 8 6 6 12 2
2012–13 Prince Albert Raiders WHL 64 21 37 58 22 4 0 4 4 0
2013–14 Prince Albert Raiders WHL 64 38 67 105 24 5 1 4 5 4
2014–15 Edmonton Oilers NHL 37 2 7 9 4 — — — — —
2014–15 Kelowna Rockets WHL 32 19 34 53 25 19 10 18 28 12
2015–16 Bakersfield Condors AHL 6 1 1 2 4 — — — — —
2015–16 Edmonton Oilers NHL 72 19 32 51 20 — — — — —
2016–17 Edmonton Oilers NHL 82 29 48 77 20 13 6 10 16 19
2017–18 Edmonton Oilers NHL 78 25 45 70 30 — — — — —
2018–19 Edmonton Oilers NHL 82 50 55 105 52 — — — — —
2019–20 Edmonton Oilers NHL 71 43 67 110 18 4 3 3 6 0
NHL totals 422 168 254 422 144 17 9 13 22 19

International
Year Team Event Result   GP G A Pts PIM
2012 Germany WHC17 9th 5 1 4 5 10
2012 Germany WJC18 6th 6 2 5 7 2
2013 Germany WJC18 8th 5 1 6 7 4
2013 Germany WJC 9th 6 2 4 6 2
2014 Germany WJC 9th 6 2 4 6 52
2014 Germany WC 14th 7 1 3 4 0
2016 Germany WC 7th 8 1 3 4 4
2016 Germany OGQ Q 3 2 3 5 0
2016 Team Europe WCH 6 2 0 2 0
2017 Germany WC 8th 3 0 2 2 2
2018 Germany WC 11th 7 2 7 9 16
2019 Germany WC 6th 8 5 3 8 0
Junior totals 28 8 23 31 60
Senior totals 42 13 21 34 22

Awards and honours
Draisaitl in 2019
Award Year
DNL Player of the Year 2011–12 [15]
WHL First All-Star Team (East) 2013–14 [16]
WHL Finals Most Valuable Player 2014–15 [17]
Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy 2015
Ed Chynoweth Trophy 2015 [18]
NHL All-Star Game 2019, 2020
NHL All-Star Game Skills Competition "Premier Passer" winner 2019
Art Ross Trophy 2020
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References
  1. "Facts". Leon Draisaitl Official Website. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  2. "2012 CHL Import Draft Results". Canadian Hockey League. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  3. Edmonton Oilers select Leon Draisaitl, the “Deutschland Dangler”, third overall Edmonton Journal, published: 27 June 2014. Retrieved 4 July 2014
  4. Eishockey-Talent Draisaitl: Mit Wucht auf die große Bühne (in German) Der Spiegel, published: 28 June 2014. Retrieved 4 July 2014
  5. "Oilers sign Draisaitl". Edmonton Oilers. 12 August 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  6. Van Diest, Derek (4 January 2015). "Oilers send center Draisaitl back to junior hockey". National Hockey League. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  7. Derek Van Diest (3 April 2016). "End of Rexall Place era at hand". Edmonton: National Hockey League. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  8. Tychkowski, Robert (6 April 2016). "Edmonton Oilers dominate Vancouver Canucks in final game at Rexall Place". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  9. "Presidents' Trophy race remains tight". National Hockey League.
  10. Derek Van Diest (7 May 2017). "Oilers score seven in Game 6 win against Ducks". National Hockey League. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  11. "Oilers sign Leon Draisaitl to 8-year, $68M extension". CBC Sports. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
  12. "Drasaitl suspended". International Ice Hockey Federation. 30 December 2013. Archived from the original on 2 January 2014. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  13. "Roster forming – 2014 WM – International Ice Hockey Federation IIHF". iihfworlds2014.com. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
  14. "Draisaitl plans to play for Germany at World Championship". theScore. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  15. "Leon Draisaitl profile - Леон Драйзайтл Профиль". eurohockey.com. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
  16. "WHL Announces All-Stars & Awards". Western Hockey League. 1 April 2014. Archived from the original on 24 March 2014. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  17. "Oilers' prospect Leon Draisaitl named playoff MVP as Kelowna Rockets soar to WHL title". Edmonton Journal. 14 May 2015. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  18. "2015 Memorial Cup Stats". Memorial Cup. 15 June 2015. Archived from the original on 21 December 2013. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Darnell Nurse		 Edmonton Oilers first round draft pick
2014		 Succeeded by
Connor McDavid
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