In a league where not many can even try to hold a candle to Connor McDavid, there is one player whose spotlight is shining almost as brightly at the moment.
And the Edmonton Oilers captain doesn’t have to look too far to see where it’s coming from. Not far at all. We’re talking a handful of stalls away in the home dressing room at Rogers Place.
While McDavid is and always will be (looming contract talks aside) the poster boy for the Edmonton franchise, if not the entirety of the NHL, itself, Leon Draisaitl is showing he’s about the farthest thing there is from playing the role of mere sidekick.
“I think when people think about the Edmonton Oilers, they think Connor McDavid,” said Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch. “They know he (Draisaitl) is one of the best in the league. I don’t know, I would think they would know he’s pretty darn good and one of the best.
“Maybe some teams do, but he does quite a bit. I see him every day, I don’t understand how anyone could undervalue him.”
The 29-year-old German, who is singlehandedly putting his home country on the hockey map (apologies to any Uwe Krupp fans still out there), isn’t exactly made of second-string stuff — as his freshly inked league-record $14 million contract extension suggests — on this Oilers roster.
True, he centres the second line, because … duh … McDavid. But it’s looking more and more like a 1-A and 1-B situationship as the Oilers have been fast finding the type of traction it takes to climb the standings heading into next week’s Christmas break.
And the push has primarily been propelled by Draisaitl’s impressive run of seven consecutive multi-point games (six goals, 12 assists) to reach 900 points on his career in Thursday’s 3-2 overtime win over the visiting Boston Bruins.
“It feels good. It’s a hard league and you learn a lot along the way,” said Draisaitl, who factored into each of Edmonton’s points in the game with a trio of assists on the night. “Every day you truly learn something new. I’m obviously proud of myself, but you can’t get to those milestones without teammates and guys trusting you, coaches trusting you.
“A big, big thank you goes out to everyone who helped along the way.”
Draisaitl also hit the 50-point mark on the season, with a league-leading 23 goals to go with 27 assists in 32 games. That puts him second overall in point production behind the Colorado Avalanche’s Nathan McKinnon (13 goals, 39 assists).
And you better believe McDavid has factored into many of those, as the two combine on the power play, and basically whenever head coach Kris Knoblauch feels his offence needs a bit of a bump — if you can call it that with the nuclear option of the dynamic duo playing on the same line.
Draisaitl did it in 751 games. And is on pace to reach 1,000 points in about 83 more games — which puts it right around Christmas time next season, at 30 years old.
“Pretty incredible to be his age and have 900 points,” said Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the longest-serving member of the Oilers dressing room, who moves down to centre the second line whenever Draisaitl is brought up to play alongside McDavid (like after a listless opening period Thursday). “It’s an extremely hard thing to accomplish. You see the work he puts in every day to be able to do that.”
McDavid, who knows a thing or two about achieving milestones in the NHL, was happy to see Draisaitl reach a big one.
“An incredible accomplishment to do it so quickly, it’s just an amazing feat,” said the Oilers captain, who just hit quadruple digits in career points Nov. 19, at age 27. “He’s been amazing all year, all his career. Just impressive to see every single day.
“Obviously, he was always a big kid and I think he’s just gotten better and better every year, it seems. The numbers may not suggest that, but he’s such a smart player. He’s always learning new things, learning new ways to be better and you can see that this year. He’s on another level.”
Then there are those charged with coming up against him regularly in practice.
“He’s a sniper but he’s also a stud for us defensively and he takes a lot of faceoffs,” said Oilers defenceman Mattias Ekholm. “That’s what impresses me most about his game. There is no situation where he isn’t first over the boards.
“If there’s a key moment in the game, he’s the first one over the boards. And the second part of that is his consistency.”
If it’s an embarrassment of riches, then the Oilers are happy to be red in the face as they follow the lead of not one, but two elite leaders in the NHL right now.
“Yeah, you’ve got to stop and appreciate it. I mean, that’s the hockey fan in you, right?” said defenceman Darnell Nurse. “To be able to sit back and appreciate the great things that Drai and McDavid do on the ice. It’s fun to watch.
“They’re the leaders on the team and every night, they’re pushing us ahead.”
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On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge