Leon Draisaitl

Leon Draisaitl

Draisaitl at the 2014 Edmonton Oilers training camp
Born (1995-10-27) 27 October 1995
Cologne, Germany
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 217 lb (98 kg; 15 st 7 lb)
Position Centre / Right Wing
Shoots Left
NHL team Edmonton Oilers
National team  Germany
NHL Draft 3rd overall, 2014
Edmonton Oilers
Playing career 2014present

Leon Draisaitl (German: [ˈdʁaɪ.zaɪt.l̩]; born 27 October 1995) is a German professional ice hockey forward 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.[1] After two seasons with the Raiders, he was picked third overall by the Edmonton Oilers in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.

Draisaitl is the son of former German national team player, Peter Draisaitl, who represented Germany in 146 games, including at World Championships, the World Cup, and at the 1988, 1992 and 1998 Olympic Winter Games.[2][3]

Playing career

Draisaitl at the 2014 CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game.

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.

Kelowna Rockets

Following two seasons playing with the Prince Albert Raiders, Draisaitl was traded to the Kelowna Rockets during the 2015 World Junior Championships, and the trade was made official 5 January. Draisaitl would help the Rockets to the 2015 WHL Championship, where he would be named playoff MVP, putting up 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 Memorial cup, losing the championship final in overtime 2–1 to the Oshawa Generals.

Edmonton Oilers

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, the Oilers signed Draisaitl to a three-year entry level contract.[4] Making the Oilers team in training camp, Draisaitl played his first NHL game on 9 October 2014 against the Calgary Flames. He scored his first NHL goal against Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Anton Khudobin on 24 October 2014. 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 Oiler's roster for more than 40 games).[5]

On 6 April 2016, he scored the final NHL goal ever at Rexall Place in a 6–2 Oilers win over the Vancouver Canucks.

On 23 March 2017, he became the first Oiler player since 1990 to have 6 straight multi point games. [6]

Draisaitl holds the record for most points in a season by a German hockey player with 77 in 2016–17 with the Oilers, starring on a line with Connor McDavid and Patrick Maroon.

On 7 May 2017, Draisaitl became the second youngest Oiler in franchise history to score a hat trick in the playoffs and the fifth player in Oilers history to score five or more points in a postseason game.

International play


Medal record
Men's Ice hockey
Representing Team Europe
Canada Cup / World Cup
2016 Toronto

Draisaitl represents Germany internationally. He played in the World Junior Championships in 2013 and 2014. He served as the German team captain at the 2014 tournament. He was ejected from a round-robin game against the American team after a hit from behind and was later assessed a one-game suspension.[7]

Draisaitl was named to the Germany men's national ice hockey team for competition at the 2014 IIHF World Championship.[8]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

    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
NHL totals 191 50 87 137 44 13 6 10 16 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 Team Europe WCH 2nd 6 2 0 2 0
Junior totals 28 8 23 31 60
Senior totals 16 4 6 10 4

Awards and honours

Award Year
DNL Player of the Year 2011–12 [9]
WHL First All-Star Team (East) 2013–14 [10]
WHL Finals Most Valuable Player 2014–15 [11]
Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy 2015
Ed Chynoweth Trophy 2015 [12]

References

Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Darnell Nurse
Edmonton Oilers first round draft pick
2014
Succeeded by
Connor McDavid
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