2014 Draft - 3rd OV: Leon Draisaitl

[Hoogaar23]

I don't really agree. The guy was HYPED. Maybe the second biggest hype in draft history? He won a Hart and did well, but there is no way he matched the intensity of that hype. And again, the hype was largely influenced by his huge frame.

I guess I just look at the Yzermans and Sakics of the world and see how size is overrated. Bertuzzi, Lucic, etc.? Meh. Patrick Kane dominates the playoffs, and yet analysts get hard whenever they see a player that is skilled and big.

Not that size means nothing and not that LD is the wrong pick for us. I'm just saying that size seems to be overrated. But maybe I'm alone in my thinking.

How did he not live up to the hype? He was tracking along with the all time greats before concussions derailed him (4th fastest to 300 and 400 points, 5th fastest to 500, 6th fastest to 600)...

And he did this while utterly terrorizing opposing D. He was to forwards as Scott Stevens was to Dmen.

What more would you have wanted from him? There was not a more dominant player in the mid 90s than Eric Lindros.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

No, I am new to petty silly nonsense though.

A number of the pro Bennett guys have been saying that Draisaitl is nothing but a big plug for some time and that we'd be idiots to take size over skill (as if Leon has no skill). That is why so many have crapped on Bennett, just giving it back to them. I have little doubt that he will be a good player for you guys but I am very happy that we got Draisaitl he is just what the Dr. ordered for us.

 

[Del Preston]

Whatever justifies your mudslinging.

Again, good pick Oilers, see you on the ice.

Kind of rich coming from a Flames fan. There's a group of you that crap on the Oilers constantly on the main boards and I'm sure I've seen you do it before. Not to mention the 6,300 post thread dedicated to trashing the Oilers and City of Edmonton on CP.

 

[DarkSaturn]

Feels like the right choice to me. Hopefully he can turn into a bigger version of Doug Weight.

The whole skating thing with big guys vs. small guys is an illusion, small guys have to make more strides to cover the amount of ground so their skating is hard not to notice.

 

[McQuixote]

What was Draisaitl's number? A part of 91% of even strength goals when he was on the ice?

Hey, if he's good at carrying ****** teams then the Oilers took the right guy.

Haha.

I'm on board. Reading the work of the advance stats guys and watching more of Draisaitl's highlights, this could be a very very good fit. I know most see him with Yakupov, but I'd really like to see him with Eberle and find out if there''s chemistry between the big guy who can find you anywhere on the ice and the little guy who can find the right spot to be.

I only hope Bennett falls short of his projections. Eff Calgary.

 

[The Head Crusher]

The obvious selection and the right one, Bennett may turn out to be a really good player, but we do not need another smallish skilled forward. Can't wait to see him play at the young guns tourney.

 

[Mr Positive]

Very happy with how things went. I wouldn't blame MacT for picking Ekblad if he were available, but I think this was the best player in the draft for our team.

 

[OVOXO*]

Bennett is a better hockey player then Draisaitl, given the lack of compete and passive play amongst our forwards "other" then Hall , you would think our management would realize that adding another passive passer in our top 6 because he is slightly bigger would just adding misery to an already soft team. Drasaitl is 6'1 not 6'4. people in here talk about how he can be the next Anze Kopitar ..... are you you fn kidding me ? Drasaitl next to Kopitar looks like a twirp, He is a poor man's Vanek from what I have seen with his play. I hope to god this guy is not what I think he will be , but either way h will never be as good as what bennett will be. Bennett simply has too much intangibles going for him.

Passive passer?

Bennett does not make others around him better, he's more a winger than center.

 

[Dorian2]

Yeah - for whatever reason a lot of people only remember Lindros through those injury plagued seasons. But make no mistake - Lindros was not overhyped. He was as advertised. One of the most dominant and feared power forwards to ever play the game. EVER! 9 straight >1PPG seasons to start his career while terrorizing opposing dmen like they had never been terrorized before.

Lindros was a beast - like nobody before or since. And no - I'm not a Flyers/Lindros fan.

This Philly fan thanks you for that.

Well said.

Now if only his damned rookie card was worth more than $1.

 

[ohheyhemsky]

Haha.

I'm on board. Reading the work of the advance stats guys and watching more of Draisaitl's highlights, this could be a very very good fit. I know most see him with Yakupov, but I'd really like to see him with Eberle and find out if there''s chemistry between the big guy who can find you anywhere on the ice and the little guy who can find the right spot to be.

I only hope Bennett falls short of his projections. Eff Calgary.

Oof. Draisaitl, by all accounts, is getting better when it comes to the defensive side of the game, but I wouldn't want him with Mr. Lazy 2.0, Eberle until one of them learns how to play without the puck.

 

[Crabapple]

wrong thread

 

[The Nuge]

We should call him Panzer than

except that would be shortened to panzie when using the Oilers nickname handbook...

 

[Oiltankjob Fail]

Kind of rich coming from a Flames fan. There's a group of you that trash the Oilers constantly on the main boards and I'm sure I've seen you do it before. Not to mention the 6,300 post thread dedicated to trashing the Oilers and City of Edmonton on CP.

Yup Flames fans are completely infactuated by the Oilers , they could care less if they have a crap team as long as Oilers are doing bad that's more important to them. Its creepy I think it goes back to us being capital getting province university , all the dominance over them in the 80's . While up here we could care less what Flames do , they are so insignificant.

 

[dookers9]

Well, it's like visiting wonderland after going to the dumpster that is Edmonton. Of course he would want to be a Flame.

Thanks for the contribution.

Very pro-town we live in.

Was thinking about this scene when I saw that kid:

Lol - HEED! PANTS! NOW!

If the Katz kid winds up reading this thread he'll wind up crying himself to sleep on his huge pilla.

 

[BleedingOil]

Leon "the final solution" draisaitl

 

[McGlassbangers]

We should call him Panzer than

Panzerschreck.

 

[bombers15]

How did he not live up to the hype?

Because the hype had him compared to Gretzky/Lemieux. Arguably hyped more than Lemieux. And while great, he wasn't ever that great. I don't know, it's an interesting debate on whether he lived up to his hype. My argument is less about how good he ended up being and more about how crazy that hype really was. It was borderline insane.

 

[oilers_guy_eddie]

The Oilers haven't had a top-6 center over 6'0 and 200 pounds since Jason Arnott left town in the 1990s (well, debatably Jarret Stoll...) The Oilers haven't had a high-quality offensive center, period, since Doug Weight left town in 2000. RNH might get there someday, but this has been an organizational weakness for a very long time.

I can't comment on the merits of Draisaitl vs Bennett, but I'm very excited that the Oilers are at least taking the center ice position seriously again for the first time in a long while.

 

[rboomercat90]

When he enters the NHL... does he don #15 or #29?

Don't let him wear 15. Players turn into duds wearing that number here.

 

[Lay Z Boy GM]

I think they made the right pick, lots of people overreacting here. It's not a reach of a pick, MAYBE he went a pick early, maybe, but it's not like we took someone ranked out of the top 10.

He fits the top 6 far better than Bennett would have, he's a strong playmaker on a team stacked with scoring wingers. Will he be Kopitar or Thornton? That's unlikely but when's the last time we saw a 215lb fwd go in the top 3? This guy will be at least 220lbs, maybe 230lbs and he'll be our answer to the big forwards in the west.

I only hope they don't rush him too much.. He'll probably play next year I just hope he's on the third line rather than the 2nd.

 

[MettleMcOiler]

Draisaitl

Call him the "Doctor" for his precision passing since we already got the Nurse.

 

[oilers_guy_eddie]

Don't let him wear 15. Players turn into duds wearing that number here.

Whereas #29 has graced Oiler legends like Ty Conklin and Louis DeBrusk.

 

[Juxta Position]

Bennett is a better hockey player then Draisaitl, given the lack of compete and passive play amongst our forwards "other" then Hall , you would think our management would realize that adding another passive passer in our top 6 because he is slightly bigger would just adding misery to an already soft team. Drasaitl is 6'1 not 6'4. people in here talk about how he can be the next Anze Kopitar ..... are you you fn kidding me ? Drasaitl next to Kopitar looks like a twirp, He is a poor man's Vanek from what I have seen with his play. I hope to god this guy is not what I think he will be , but either way h will never be as good as what bennett will be. Bennett simply has too much intangibles going for him.

seriously man, i live in PA and have seen LD countless times, and i have no idea how you could call him a passive passer. the only explanation i can think of is you've never actually seen him play live.

your post makes you sound like a whiny kid that got an x-box one instead of a PS4 for christmas.

 

[Jumptheshark]

A number of the pro Bennett guys have been saying that Draisaitl is nothing but a big plug for some time and that we'd be idiots to take size over skill (as if Leon has no skill). That is why so many have crapped on Bennett, just giving it back to them. I have little doubt that he will be a good player for you guys but I am very happy that we got Draisaitl he is just what the Dr. ordered for us.

do not forget about the fact there is a question about his skating

 

[DarkSaturn]

His name is Leon... the only nickname we need to consider is 'The Professional'.