Is it possible for a player to turn the highest cap hit in NHL history into a value deal?
Leon Draisaitl is doing his best to make it so.
His record-breaking $14 million a year contract hasn’t even started yet and the German superstar is already making it look like a bargain.
Some players wilt under the weight of a massive salary hike — Vancouver’s Elias Pettersson wasted no time turning his eight-year deal worth $11.6 million a season into a boat anchor that is sinking the Canucks — but Draisaitl is rising to the occasion, elevating his game to an even higher level.
He leads the NHL in goals (29 in 39 games), game winning goals (nine), even strength goals (22), sits second in points (59), third in plus-minus (+22) and is tied for third in face-off winning percentage among players with 650 or more draws.
He’s a workhorse in all of the clutch situations, playing hard, playing hurt and holding himself to a standard that 99 per cent of the players in the league couldn’t reach on their best day.
“He’s a guy we always rely on in many different aspects,” said Oilers veteran Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. “He just keeps getting better and better. It’s fun to see. We lean on him. He’s definitely putting it all out there right now.”
The former Hart, Art Ross and Ted Lindsay trophy winner is in contention for all three again and could hit for the cycle with his sizeable lead in the Rocket Richard Trophy race.
This is how you live up to a contract.
On a team that has the best player in the world on it, Draisaitl can often be the most impactful player on the ice, driving a line with Vasily Podkolzin and Kasperi Kapanen (now Viktor Arvidsson) on his flanks most of the season.
‘At another level’
“I don’t know where to start with everything he does,” said head coach Kris Knoblauch, after a goal and an assist from Draisaitl helped Edmonton to a 4-2 win over Seattle Saturday.
“Whether it’s the power play, faceoffs or scoring goals, he’s been at another level.”
He’s more of a monster than a hockey player. If you were to build a perfect centre in a lab, he’d look a lot like the six-foot-two, 209-pound German.
“It really started when you go back to that Columbus game when (Connor McDavid) was hurt and he stepped up and really hasn’t looked back,” said Knoblauch. “He’s put together a nice string of games.”
With McDavid out with an injury in early November and the Oilers already struggling for traction, Draisaitl put up back-to-back three-point nights, factoring in on six of Edmonton’s nine goals in 5-1 and 4-2 wins over Nashville and Calgary.
He’s currently riding a career-high 14-game points streak (12 goals and 15 assists), and has only been held off the scoresheet eight times in 39 games.
Edmonton’s record in those games? One win and seven losses, outscored 28-8 and shut out four times.
Those are MVP numbers.
“Being clutch, that’s quite an understatement just because of how many things he’s done this year,” said Knoblauch.
‘Takes accountability’
You want accountability and leadership from your best guys and Draisaitl is a model of it. Friday night against Anaheim he scores an elite sniper’s goal with 95 seconds left in regulation to beat Anaheim and then gives himself a failing grade on the night for reckless puck management.
“Leon’s very aware of his game, he takes accountability and doesn’t deflect blame, and I think that’s part of the reason he’s become such a good player,” said Knoblauch.
“He’s been able to accept that responsibility when he doesn’t play well. But there are nights when things aren’t going well for him but he still finds a way to make a big play.”
A day after the Anaheim game he sets up Podkolzin to make it 1-0 and seals it with the empty netter and goes 71 per cent in the face-off circle to beat Seattle.
The guy is money.
Here come the Oilers
There was a slow start and some occasional wobbles since, but the Oilers are right back where they were at this time last season — one of the best and hottest clubs in the league.
They’re finding ways to win when they aren’t at their best, they’re honing the shutdown game they’ll be relying on in the playoffs (holding their opponents to two or fewer goals in 11 of the last 16 games) and scoring the key goals at the key times.
The scare is over. At 14-3-1 in the last 18 games, it’s all coming together.
“I think we’ve been getting better since the break,” said Knoblauch. “We were not sharp, details were lacking, execution and puck skills were not what they needed to be.
“They continue to get better and better. I think it starts with playing good defence and working out from there. The effort has been really strong.”
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